Journey into Myst
by Myst1989
Summary: The ending has still not been written... and it never will... See the story of Myst through the eyes of a young woman name Melody as she finds adventure, friendship, tragedy and possibly love.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

**Hello there and thank you for clicking on my story! I have been a Myst fan for a long time and finally decided to upload this fanfiction I wrote. It will follow the story of the games through the eyes of my character Melody. Other than her I do not own anything related to the Myst series. I know I will miss some things and get a few things wrong here and there, but if I do please keep in mind I was trying to simplify a lot of things for the sake of the story. Also timing (years between events and so on) are different. This is on purpose.**

**So please read and enjoy. Don't forget to review!**

Melody Hunter leaned back and sneezed. A person needed a big game permit to hunt the dust-bunnies that inhabited her great-uncle's attic.

Stanley Hunter had been an avid collector of the rare and weird. Melody had lived in the old house with him since she was a child when her parents had died. She'd never been particularly close to him, but he'd taken care of her and she was grateful for that. What she wasn't grateful for was him leaving everything to his snotty son.

Darwin Hunter had come to the funeral, stayed for the reading of the will and, on hearing that everything was his, ordered Melody to get the house in sellable condition and vacate the premises within ten days.

She'd wanted to throttle him, but he'd offered her money which she desperately needed so she'd gritted her teeth and taken out her frustrations by cleaning. Evidently she hadn't meant that much to Stanley. All he had left her was a book that was even older than he had been.

Deciding she needed a break, Melody sat cross-legged on the floor of the attic and laid the aforementioned book on her lap. She flipped through it absent-mindedly. It was written in an ornate handwriting that she didn't even try to decipher. It was kind of exciting that the book she'd seen in her uncle's study all these years and hadn't been allowed to touch was finally in her hands. That was probably why he had left it to her. She had always been fascinated by it growing up.

Now she was grown up and had no where to go. She would have rather had him leave her the house.

Examining the inside of the back cover, she frowned.

Had those words always been there? Unlike the rest of the book, she could actually read them:

**_The last step of a journey is the first step to a greater adventure_**

Curious, she ran her hand over the words.

A sudden rush of wind made her shiver. Looking up, she wondered how the attic window had been left open.

But it was closed.

More than a little spooked, she looked back toward the book and gasped.

The pages were fluttering. The breeze was coming from inside the book.

Melody tossed it away from her in surprise. When the book hit the floor, it fell open to the front page. The only thing on the page was a picture.

A picture that hadn't been there before.

She froze in shock. Was the picture... moving?

Melody scrambled to her feet in a panic only to stumble and fall towards the book. In a reflex, her hand flew out in front of her to catch herself. Her palm came into contact with the page...

She gasped as she fell into open space. She was slowly falling through a shroud of mist. Suddenly the mist cleared and she was flying over a small island. What was this?

Without warning, her speed increased. Looking down, she saw she was barreling towards the ground.

Melody screamed as everything went dark.

The first thing she heard was the sound of waves breaking. Slowly opening her eyes, she realized she was on a dock. To her right was a ship sunk up to the masts. To her left was a steep hill. The only way to go was forward. At the end of the dock were stone steps leading up to a walkway. To the right were more stairs that lead to a platform with a giant gear on it. From the platform she could see the whole island. It was small and had a few small buildings on it.

Where was she? How could a book have brought her here? Was there anyone else on this island? The only way to find out was to explore and see if she could make sense out of this place.

Going back down the stairs, she went forward and up a few more stone steps. She was at the top of the steep hill. Wooden planks formed a walkway that branched left and right. Right took her to a small stone circular building that turned out to be an observatory, the ceiling was covered in stars. By sitting in the chair that looked uncomfortably like it belonged in a dentist's office, she could looked up at the stars. Fiddling with the buttons on the chair caused the ceiling to change. She realized she could set the numbers to a specific date and the stars on the ceiling would be positioned the way they were on that date and at that time. Interesting, but it didn't really help her.

Following the wooden plank path around she came to the largest building on the island, which wasn't very large at all. Before going inside, she decided to look at the rest of the island.

Right in front of the building were a few trees lining a dirt path. A small pool a little larger than a birdbath was in the middle of the path and had a ship model inside that had sunken much like the ship at the dock where she had first arrived.

The path branched off to the right and became a stone walkway that lead over the water to...

Melody blinked.

Was that a... rocket ship...?

Shaking her head, she turned away. She didn't even want to know...

Passing the pool, to the right of the dirt path was a shed. But when she opened it, there was nothing inside but steps leading down. She shut the door quickly. No way was she heading down a dark stairwell on this crazy island. For all she knew there could be an axe-murderer down there.

Across the path from the shed was what looked like a small log cabin. She peeked inside and saw there was only a boiler in the cabin and some kind of safe. Walking around it, she saw a giant tree with a massive trunk. It was obviously special because it had a brick wall around it with steps leading up to the tree.

Going back to where she had just passed the pool, Melody followed the path a few yards to the end of the island. A metal console with two red wheels and a red button stood by the water's edge. Directly across the water from the box, a clock-tower rose out of the water.

Turning, she headed back up toward the large building. Passing by the giant tree, she noticed a stone marker for a grave. It was for someone named T'iana. She wondered who T'iana had been. Had she lived on this island? Obviously there had to have been someone else living with her to bury her when she died.

Movement nearby caught her eye. A piece of paper lay on the ground, the edge fluttering in the very slight breeze. Finally, she thought. Maybe this would clear things up.

Picking it up, she was relieved that she could read the message:

_Catherine,_

_I've left you a message of utmost importance in our fore-chamber beside the dock. Enter the number of marker switches on this island into the imager to retrieve the message._

_Yours,_

_Atrus_

Catherine? Atrus? Who were these people? Rather than clearing things up, the message had brought more questions. Fore-chamber beside the dock? Maybe if she went and looked at that message maybe it would tell her what was going on here.

Going down to the dock she saw a door leading into the side of the steep hill that she hadn't seen before. Following the tunnel and down a short ladder, she found herself in a circular room with a strange looking circular machine in the middle of it. Inside were a dozen circular knobs that looked like lights. On the wall nearby was a panel with a bunch of numbers and a red button. What had the letter said? The number of marker switches? What were marker switches?

Thankfully a piece of paper on the wall next to the panel described them.

It took her fifteen minutes to search the island for the marker switches. Each one she came to she flipped on just in case they needed to be on for her to work the imager. By the time she circled the island, she had counted eight switches.

Returning to the fore-chamber, she entered 08 into the panel.

Melody gasped as the 3-D image of a man's face appeared above the imager. He looked to be in his late forty's with sandy hair and brown eyes.

_"Catherine my love," _he said in a low voice, like he was afraid someone would hear him._ "I have to leave quickly. Something terrible has happened. It's hard for me to believe, but most of my books have been destroyed. Catherine, it's one of our sons. I suspect Achenar, but I shouldn't leap to conclusions. I'll find him and Sirrus as well. I should have known better than to leave my library unchecked for so long. I have removed the remaining undamaged books and placed them in their protective places. You shouldn't have to use the books until I return, but if you have forgotten the access keys remember the tower rotation." _He smiled warmly_. "Don't worry Catherine, everything will be fine. I'll see you shortly. Erase this message after you view it, just to be safe." _

The imager powered down as the message ended. Melody stared at it for several moments, lost in thought. So far she knew there was a man named Atrus, he had a wife named Catherine and they had two sons named Sirrus and Achenar. Evidently Catherine had never gotten the message as it was still in the imager. How long ago had this message been recorded? Were all of these people still alive? What had happened to Catherine so that she hadn't gotten the message? What had happened to Atrus that he hadn't returned?


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes:**

**So I told myself I wasn't going to upload more then one chapter at a time, but I couldn't help it. I wanted to get a little farther in. I know it's kinda boring so far, with her just wandering around, but in this chapter Melody is going to meet the boys we all know and love. Things will get better I promise.**

**Don't forget to read and review!**

From the outside the library looked like a mausoleum. Inside was a circular room. Starting from the right as you entered there was a fireplace, a shelf with a blue book and a blue piece of paper beside it, a painting of the view when one stood in the room and looked outside, a bookshelf with a lot of books, another panting of a doorway leading to a hallway, a shelf with a red book and a red piece of paper beside it and finally a map of the island to the left of the front door. Starting at the fireplace, Melody discovered she could go inside it and stand up. Pressing a red button, the opening closed and a panel appeared. By pushing in tiles you could create a pattern. It had to be some kind of lock, but Melody had no idea what to do to open it. Pressing the red button again, the fireplace opened and she was back in the circle room.

Picking up the blue book, she opened it out of curiosity.

She gasped when the picture began to move.

There was a lot of static, like a TV with bad reception. Some of the pages had been torn out. Picking up the blue piece of paper beside the book, she placed it inside.

Some of the static cleared and she could just make out a man's face.

"Sirrus!?" he cried. "-s that you?!" The static interrupted for a moment, but then cleared somewhat. He looked at her curiously. "Who are you?"

Melody's mouth dropped in shock. "Can you... can you see me?"

"Help me..."

"Oh my god you can," she said in shocked realization. "Help you? How?"

"... need blue pages... please bring me... never, never happened..."

"What happened?" she asked. "Who are you?"

"... pages... I must have... to me..."

The man faded completely and the picture went black.

"No wait!" she called. "I can't understand you! What's going on? Come back!" She closed the book and opened it again, but all she saw was static.

She placed the book back on the shelf in frustration. He had called her Sirrus as first. That was the name of one of Atrus and Catherine's sons. Did that mean that the man she had just seen was Achenar?

Her gaze went across the room to the red book. Could it be...?

Crossing to the red book, she put the red piece of paper beside it in the back. When she opened the front, the static cleared a little and another man's face appeared.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Hello?" Melody called. "Are you Sirrus?"

"I can't..." he was breaking up just as badly as the other man. "Bring me a red page... must... red pages... bring me... had given up... rescue..."

Just like the other book, he faded and the picture went black.

Evidently that was all she was going to get out of them until she found more of these colored pages. But where were they? Putting the red book back on the shelf, she went over to the book case. Like Atrus had said in his message to Catherine, most of the books had been burned. But who had placed them back on the shelf and why?

Only five of the books were undamaged. None of them contained red or blue pages. She hadn't seen any other books around the island. What was she supposed to do?

Frustrated, she examined the painting beside the red book. It showed a hallway in this room, but there wasn't one. That had to mean a secret passageway. But how to open it was the question.

It turned out to be remarkably easy. She discovered it by accident. When she touched the painting of the secret hallway, a mechanism behind the wall activated and the bookcase slid down to reveal a door that opened. Melody smiled. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all.

The hallway ended at a structure with a door and a green button on the inside. It took several presses of the button for her to realize that she needed to shut the door before it would work. It turned out to be an elevator. When the doors opened again, she was in some kind of tower. Two ladders led up to platforms above. Each was marked by a plaque, one an open book and the other a key. The book ladder led to a wall with two beams running vertically several inches apart. The key ladder also lead to a wall with two vertical beams but they were further apart. Not finding anything else of interest, she went back to the library room.

Melody was a little alarmed to see the front door shut but figured out that if she touched the painting of the view outside, the secret hall closed up and the front door opened.

When she looked outside she was surprised to see it was getting dark. She hadn't found any pages and she hadn't found a way home. The thought of spending the night on this strange island didn't exactly appeal to her, but she didn't really have any other choice at the moment.

Although she knew there was no one else on the island with her, she didn't feel comfortable sleeping in the library room with the door open. She opened the secret hallway to close the front door and got as comfortable as she could on the floor.

It was going to be a long night.

After a fitful night's sleep she was up the next morning at 7:30, according to her watch. The first thing she did was examine the map of the island in the library room, to see if she had missed something.

It turned out she had.

The map lit up as she approached. Four places were highlighted : the giant gear, the rocket ship, the large tree and the dock. A dial on the side caused a line that started at the library to rotate around the map, turning red when it hit one of the four highlighted locations. This must have been the tower rotation Atrus had talked about in his message. She lined it up with the giant gear and took the elevator up to the tower.

Now the two beams up the book ladder had opened and she could see the gear from the tower. Up the key ladder she discovered that some writing had appeared : 2:40 2, 2, 1

Two forty? Was that a time? It had to have something to do with the clock tower. When she went back down and opened the front door, she remembered something as she watched the bookcase slide into place. Something about a gear. She had seen a gear on the cover of one of those books.

Looking among the five undamaged books confirmed that there was indeed a book with a gear on the cover. Curious, Melody opened it and began to read:

_Before arriving in this Age I was determined that it would be a journey to a world very different from my previous adventures. And it was. _

_The sky here is dark and grey and incessantly displays flashes of lightning in the distance. I met a very old man with a long beard and hair that hangs to his waist. He is very feeble and has trouble even moving. This man has obviously been through many things in this strange world and I have learned many things from him. He has told me an interesting story of this world's history. Years ago, he told me, there was a beautiful city that rose up out of the water. It housed many people inside it's walls and the people had everything they wished for. The city was surrounded by three high hills which rose higher than the city. On the east hill of the city rested a large look-out post and the people of the city had constructed the post expecting visitors to arrive from the east. The people had no means of traveling on the water, which forced them to merely wait for friend or foe. As time passed, friendly visitors brought rumors of an enemy that existed beyond the horizon. The people grew fearful, but nothing happened. One day the usually sunny day became as dark as night and black ships appeared on the horizon. The look-out post's attempts at peace were turned away and the sentries were easily overwhelmed. The ships continued to wreak havoc on the city, apparently destroying everyone and everything. After the foundations of the city were destroyed the city sunk deep into the ocean and only the look-out post remained. The black ships sailed away. The man continued to say that eight people had hidden and managed to survive though the attack. In the nine years since the attack, two of the survivors had died. He also said that it was rumored that ten years from the attack the enemy would return to finish the destruction they had started so long ago. I have decided since hearing the man's story it would be admirable to save this civilization and stop the enemy's plan of destruction. I am excited about the adventure that awaits me and an idea has sparked in my mind to provide the needed defense for these people._

_I met the remaining survivors today and I have begun to work on a plan for protection. After a short absence I have returned to this Age with my two sons. They have, as of yet, traveled rarely with me and they are understandably excited to be here. They have grown considerably since Everdune and it is obvious to me that they will be a great help this time, instead of the nuisance they have been in the past._

_All three of us, along with four of the healthier survivors began construction today. We are building upon the old city's ruins, which will provide a perfect foundation for our fortress. My sons have been spending much of their spare time on the south island where most of my materials are stored. I am very pleased with their intelligence and their creativity is refreshing to see as they work on small projects of their own. _

_It has been over four months now and construction is going well. My sons love the world except for it's grey sky. They detest the grey sky and tell me many times they wish the sky here were like the blue sky in Myst. The old man I first talked to tells me the enemy is due in four months. I feel we will be ready when the time comes. The man reminds me of Emmett in many ways and I often wonder how Emmet and his people are doing._

_It has been six months of work and we have finally finished the fortress. It rests between the three hills which are now only islands due to a rising water level that the people experienced after the attack. Inside the fortress I have designed a most intriguing device. It makes use of a technology called holography I began experimenting with on my visit to Aspermere. It will be working in a couple of days, after I compensate for some small miscalculations. This holographic device will enable the survivors to learn to use the fortress. The enemy is due to come soon and I trust the fortress will provide sufficient protection for all of us._

_The black ships have come. Their attack was substantial. Their weapons have been stopped and it appears they have turned away in defeat. I could not help but smile as I watched the boats leave. _

_Last night we had a small celebration. The old survivors danced their dances of old. My sons did not understand why the sky had not turned back to it's original blue. The old man told them the storms would never end until the enemy was destroyed. I assured my sons that a blue sky was not worth the risk of death and they seemed to hear me._

_I have had a healthy adventure and begun work on a new book. Once again I must leave a familiar Age in search of a new universe I have begun. But first I will have an extended time with Catherine whom I miss very much. I must also return to the people of the Tide. I believe in my travels I have found a substance that will ease the pain of their bone ailments that they have long endured. I hope to return to the Mechanical Age one day to find the population growing and my fortress still strong. Though the sky may always be black, I am confident the people here feel a heavier darkness has been lifted from their shoulders. _

Wow she thought as she closed the journal, what a way to spend a year. It seemed this Atrus guy was quite the adventurer. How had he gotten to this Mechanical Age? With the ship at the dock that was now sunk?

Melody replaced the journal on the shelf exactly where she had found it. On to the clock tower.

The console on the shore facing the clock tower was simple to figure out. One wheel turned the hour hand, the other the minute hand on the clock. Melody turned the time to 2:40 and pushed the red button.

A path made of gears rose out of the water. She shook her head. Atrus was certainly mechanically inclined.

Inside the tower was a small room with a strange device. But she was coming to expect the strange now.

Three gears were stacked on top of one another on a bar that led down to a machine with two levers. Another larger lever was on the wall on the right. A large gear was embedded in the floor in front of the machine. The gears had the numbers 1, 2 and 3 on the spokes.

Melody was sure that this was where the second set of numbers came into play. Using the levers, the left turned two gears and the right turned one, she lined the gears up to read 2, 2, 1 and pulled the larger lever.

The large gear in front of the machine turned to reveal that a quarter of it was gone. She looked at it curiously. It resembled the giant gear on the platform at the other end of the island. Since this gear had moved, did that mean...?

Rushing out, she ran up the path and took the stairs two at a time. Just as she had thought, the giant gear had turned to reveal a quarter of it missing. Inside was a shelf that held a book with a grey cover.

Melody approached it cautiously. She had learned to become weary of books. Slowly opening it, she felt the familiar jolt of shock at seeing the picture moving. It showed a fortress surrounded by three islands in the middle of a vast ocean.

The Mechanical Age.

This was how Atrus had traveled there.

The books were like a gateway to other worlds.

Taking a deep breath, Melody placed her hand on the page...


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**

**This chapter covers Melody's trip to the Mechanical Age. I am going to go through the Ages in the way that made the most sense to me for story progression, while saving my favorite Age for last. I won't spoil the surprise by telling you what it's going to be.**

**Also, there is going to be major romance elements in this story. Between Melody and who, you might ask. Well that is also going to be a surprise :) Will it be a cannon character or one of my own creation? You'll just have to wait and find out.**

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Unlike her arrival to the island, her trip to the Mechanical Age was a rush of wind and darkness. When the darkness cleared, she was standing on an extremely small island in the middle of a vast ocean. Giant gears decorated the landscape. To her left was a gear-shaped platform that had four green buttons. By pressing them she changed the picture on them to different shapes. Deciding to leave it alone until she knew what it was for, Melody made her way across the walkway to the fortress Atrus had described in his journal.

Her first thought was that it looked small from the outside. There were gears on top of the water underneath the fortress and a large metal ring around it. She could see another small island off to the right across the water. According to the journal the islands she was seeing must be the three hills that were left above water. There must be another island on the other side of the fortress.

Entering the fortress, she was greeted by a V-hallway. She decided to go to the left first. The room she found surprised her. It looked like a throne room, but for a child. To her immediate right was a marble throne, next to it was some kind of wind up bird toy. In front of her, lining the opposite wall, were three cases, each with a crystal inside. One was yellow, the other blue and the last was red. To the left of the crystals were a couple of models : a clock tower, a ship and a rocket. In the clock tower model and the ship was a telescope set up in front of the only window.

But something bugged her. In the journal, Atrus had said that there were people here when he had left. Where were they? She looked through the telescope and gasped.

The telescope was pointed at the ruins of a ship. Hanging from the crow's nest, a skeleton swayed in the breeze.

Melody grimaced and turned away. Something bad had happened here. Where was everyone?

Going over to the throne, she wondered who had sat there. Obviously he hadn't been a very good ruler.

By turning a crank she made the mechanical bird bob and flap it's wings. Her eye caught something behind the bird. The wall was a slightly different color. Touching it, she gasped as a panel slid open revealing crawlspace to a secret room. Melody crouched down and went inside.

She had never seen so much gold in her life. There were chests everywhere and gold coins littered the floor. Apparently she had just found the royal treasury. On top of one chest, next to some solid gold bars, sat a red piece of paper. Picking it up, she folded it carefully and placed it in her pocket.

Turning to leave the room, she spotted a wooden rack filled with wine bottles. Stuffed in one of the holes was a rolled-up note. Since everything could be important, Melody read it:

**_Sirrus, your greed sickens me! Your desire for wealth and plunder is never satisfied. I will instruct my subjects not to pay your new tax and you know they'll listen to me. Regards, Achenar_**

Huh, Melody thought, this is interesting. So this must be Sirrus' room. Subjects? Did that mean that Sirrus and Achenar were rulers here? Had they been chosen or had they elected themselves was the question. In either case, it looked as if Sirrus was the greedy, King John type. What kind of a person was Achenar? If Sirrus had a room, his brother must have one too. Going back into Sirrus' throne room, she went through the doorway on the other side and continued exploring the fortress. It led down another hall which split off to the right. Going right led to her an elevator. There was only one more floor above.

The room at the top of the elevator was circular and contained only a console with two levers. Pulling one, she grabbed on to the console when the whole fortress rotated 90 degrees. Not sure what she had just done, Melody took the elevator back down and continued down the hallway.

She found another throne room, but if it was Achenar's it worried her. Weapons hung from the walls, two lengths of chains hung from the ceiling across from the throne, animal skins covered the floor at the foot of the throne and decorated several of the walls. A mace, a knife and a cross bow lay on the floor. A bench next to the throne had what looked like a jack-in-the-box sitting on it. The item was so oddly childish compared to the rest of the room it made her curious. Picking it up, she turned the crank.

Melody shrieked as a snake popped out and struck at her before going back into the box. She dropped it, a hand over her heart. What kind of a sick toy was that?!

Once her heart rate had returned to normal she noticed that, as in Sirrus' throne room, there was an area of the wall that was a different color than the rest. Touching it caused a panel to slide up as expected. Melody hesitated briefly before going in.

If the throne room had worried her, the secret room terrified her.

A large cage took up most of the room. Flipping the switch attached to it caused the cage to become electrified. She gasped and stepped back as a shower of sparks exploded from the cage. A row of shelves next to the cage held too many bottles to count, all of them marked as poison. A blue piece of paper rested between two bottles. Melody took it and put it in her pocket with the other paper, but she was starting to wonder about freeing Achenar.

Another knife lay on the floor next to the shelves. She lifted the lid on a box, then wished she hadn't.

Inside was a human skull.

The worst came when she turned to leave.

Next to the opening sat a butcher's block, a meat cleaver rested on top. Both were covered with blood.

Melody scrambled out of the room, her face turning green. Never again, she thought. She was never going in that room again.

When she completed the circle and returned outside, she found that the fortress no longer face the island she had arrived on. By pulling the lever up in the top of the fortress, she had rotated the entire building. It now faced another island. The only thing on it was a plaque that showed two symbols, one resembled the moon over two mountains and the other looked like half a pizza. She made a mental note of them and went back inside and up to the top. By rotating the fortress again, she went out to the third island. Like the second, all it had was a plaque with two more symbols, a C facing down and two triangles with a rectangle between them. She had to rotate the fortress twice to get back to the first island.

Going to the console she'd found when she'd first arrived, she matched the symbols she had seen to the four buttons and pressed the red button.

A platform next to the console that she hadn't seen before opened. Stairs led down to a small room that held a book with a faded black cover on a pedestal. The word Myst was on the cover. Opening the book, she saw a moving picture of the island she had been on before. She looked back at the cover. Myst? Was that the name of the island? Well, she decided, that was what she would call it from now on.

Placing her hand on the page, she was transported back to the island. When she opened her eyes, she was standing beside the giant gear once again. She made her way toward the library.

She had a few questions for Sirrus and Achenar...

Melody went to the red book first. Placing the page inside, she opened it to the picture.

She could make out Sirrus' face a little better. She didn't know what she expected, but he was actually quite handsome.

He smiled when he saw her. "You've returned. Thank you for bringing... red page. You must con... to help me..."

"First I have a few questions for you," Melody said.

"... name is Sirrus."

"I already know that," she told him. "I want to ask you about some things I saw in the Mechanical Age."

"I beg you... find the remaining red... release me from... I need more red pages..."

"Not until you answer me."

"... waste time!... brother is..."

"Your brother?" she asked. "Do you know that Achenar is imprisoned too?"

"... I wrongfully imprisoned..."

With that, the picture faded.

Drat, she thought. He had never said anything about the Mechanical Age. Maybe she'd have better luck with his brother.

After putting the blue page in, she flipped to the picture.

Achenar came into focus. She could see the resemblance between the brothers but while Sirrus had an air of dark charisma about his features Achenar looked bigger and stronger, almost like an ox. His face was wider and he had a strange laugh.

"You've returned!" he said excitedly. "... afraid you... please rescue me..."

"Answer something for me first," Melody said.

"I'm Achenar..."

She shook her head. "I figured that out on my own. I want to ask you about those torture devices in the Mechanical Age. And the poison. And the weapons."

"... time. You must... blue pages..."

"You and Sirrus, I swear!" Melody said, exasperated. "Getting a straight answer out of you two is impossible!"

"Don't... to my brother, I beg you!" Achenar exclaimed, panic in his voice. "... be complete... blue pages... do not listen to my brother..."

"Why?" she asked, wanting to know anything they could tell her.

"... fool and a liar..."

Melody frowned. "From what I've seen so far about the two of you, I'm still not sure about either of you. Until I get a straight answer I'll keep bringing both kinds of pages."

"Don't bring the red... implore you!... wrongfully imprisoned... pages... please!"

That was all she got before the picture went dark.

Melody shut the book with a snap. Things were getting more muddled by the second. She had both brothers begging her to help them and pleading with her not to help the other. Well, at least Achenar had given her a reason not to help Sirrus. At least a reason in his opinion. Achenar was the one who had a room that looked like it should belong to a homicidal maniac, so she couldn't really rely on his word.

Each time she put another page in the book, the brothers came in a little clearer. She would just have to continue to collect pages for each book until she could hear each of their stories.

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**Don't forget to read and review! It encourages me to keep going.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you to everyone who has looked at this story and for the two who have reviewed. It really means a lot to me and encourages me to keep going. Hugs and plushie Squees to you!**

**Once again I do not own Myst, the Ages or the characters. All I own is Melody... and perhaps someone else down the line...**

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Going to the map, she lined up the tower and the rocket. It was the next thing counter-clockwise from the gear so she might as well deal with it next. Up the elevator to the tower, she went up the key ladder and saw that the phrase '59 volts' had appeared on the wall. She would have to head outside to see what that meant, but first she was going to read up on the rocket. Since Atrus had a journal for the Mechanical Age, he must have had one for whatever Age the rocket represented.

She found it on the same bookshelf as the Mechanical Age journal. A rocket adorned the cover:

_It has been awhile since I have heard only silence and I enjoy it greatly. I think. For some reason I do not feel altogether welcome in this new world in which I have arrived. But how could I be unwelcome in an Age with no inhabitants? It is, of course, only in my head._

_This world is very beautiful, (but I think I have yet to ever write in a journal that an Age I have linked to is horrid or disgusting) from the grassy hill from where I am standing I can see green fields below along with a few scattered forests. A rather large lake looms some distance from where I am standing, yet the water's blue can be seen plainly from here. The earth's fresh and the sky is speckled with white clouds. It is absolutely breathtaking, and yet that strange feeling again... perhaps it is the hot breeze that continues to blow from the north. Hotter than I would have imagined, it almost singes my skin and I feel quite uncomfortable when it comes. I will try to ignore it. Night has almost arrived and the sunset is spectacular. Oranges and reds settle about the western horizon._

_Though night has come, the horizon still glows red long past the sunset. Dark reds flow from the horizon and blend into the black sky. Again, the feeling. And I am beginning to believe it is not all in my head. I must sleep now. I will need my strength to explore more tomorrow._

_I have had to return home due to an unpredictable natural occurrence more frightening than I have ever experienced. I was awakened by terrible shaking in the ground and explosions on all sides of me. Gigantic balls of fire were falling from the sky and I immediately left in fear of my life. I must remember to bring a Myst-linking book with me when I return, in case the one left there has been destroyed or damaged._

_I have returned to a different world than the one I left only three months ago. It has been transformed into a barren, desert land with only gigantic craters scattered across the land the provide variety. Strangely enough, the small grassy hill where I spent my first night remains exactly the way I found it. Apparently the falling meteors did not hit this area, leaving an oasis in the midst of this horrible desolation. The hot wind I remember has turned into a rather pleasant breeze, which is at least one improvement. I fear it is the only improvement. The magnificent lake I saw on my first visit is now completely dried up. However, another lake exists and appears to be quite a bit larger. I assume one of the falling meteors created this lake, due to its circular shape and the jutting rock that grows out of the center of the lake. The rest of this world seems like a desert, although I will verify that statement with closer inspection._

_Though this world has little visual excitement to offer, it offers much to the ears. Sounds constantly flow through my ears and I have found where a few of them originate. It seems, as Catherine says, I do find beauty in everything._

_Last night I was awakened by a terrible hissing. I was sweating and the heat was so intense that I immediately dipped my head in a nearby stream to cool it down. The hot breezes had returned along with a low roar from the ground. I walked a short distance to observe some red flames shooting up from the earth. Suddenly the ground began to crack and a huge chasm opened. The chasm continued to grow until it was far too wide to cross. Then the tumult subsided, leaving only a dull roar. I have decided however I can use the chasm to my advantage. Perhaps the heat from the chasm can be harnessed._

_Even as the chasm has ripped into the surface of this world, it has opened a whole new world to explore. Although uncomfortably hot, I found it possible to reach a cave in the chasm that had been created and have now explored deep into the crust of this planet. I have found a vast underground cave system that will take many years to map and explore. I will also look for a safer way to reach the underground than through the chasm wall. _

_This Age seems to change on it's own. Though I feel that I should leave again and see if things are different when I return. It is also important that I check on Sirrus and Achenar and make sure everything is going along well. When I return I also hope to bring back some tools I will need for my plans to explore the underground. _

_The abundance of raw materials here is beginning to amaze me. I have returned with some of the complex tools I know I would be needing. I assumed I would have to return for more basic materials, however it seems as though I will be able to find everything I need here. Of course iron is abundant, but I have also found titanium occurring naturally. I am all the more excited to begin work. Everything is set and I look forward to tomorrow. My raw materials are all here. I think I will be able to have most of my additions to this world completed within one year. I so love working with my hands, whether writing or building._

Melody turned the page to find that most of the rest of the journal was faded, with only a few words here and there.

_... well I have decided... amazingly strong... be one of my most prized inventions. I am extremely... could never have imagined it to come together... I doubt... could possibly work at fourteen instead of eight..._

_Completely fatigued, I am so happy to have completed..._

_I am leaving today in order to bring back Sirrus and Achenar. I have left them alone in Channelwood. I believe they will enjoy all there is to see here. The Age seems to have stabilized. I believe the meteors set off a period of volcanic activity by piercing into the shallow crust, but the tremors have become few._

_I have just noticed that a large amount of this journal has curiously vanished from the pages on which I wrote over the past eighteen months. Fortunately I have copied many of my construction notes in another journal._

_I do not understand the many mysteries of this world, (that I have decided to call the Selenitc Age) but I trust I will discover logical answers to my questions. I have a feeling that many of my questions can be answered in another Age which I hope to travel soon. But for now I must simply accept this world's mysteries and take pride in my accomplishments._

The more Melody read about Atrus, the more she liked him. He seemed very adventurous, inventive and creative. He also helped people and tried to improve things wherever he went. She also liked how he gave each place a name, a habit she herself had.

Selentic, if she wasn't mistaken, came from a Latin word meaning sound. Atrus was smart and well-read.

What had happened to him? Was he still alive? If so, she hoped she'd get to meet him.

On the last page of the journal was a drawing of a piano with several keys marked and numbered one through five.

Going outside, she followed the power lines from the rocket to the shed that led underground. Going down the steps, she came to a room that overlooked a larger room full of turbines. A console had two dials and ten small red buttons. By fiddling with the buttons, she discovered that the left dial showed how much power was flowing through the turbines. She worked with it until it read 59.

At the rocket, she was happy to find that the door opened. Feeling very smart and proud of herself, she entered the rocket.

Unfortunately what was inside had the potential to drive her insane.

In the back of the rocket was a piano, in the front a weird looking machine that had five switches, a lever and a huge globe the top. After some fiddling she found out that it was a musical lock. She ended up using the trial-and-error method to set the switches to match the notes that Atrus had sketched in his journal. It wasn't difficult so much as tedious.

Melody wanted to cheer when the five switches played right and the globe opened. There was a book inside.

Not surprisingly this book had a moving picture inside. By watching the picture like a movie she recognized the landscape as Atrus had described in the Selentic Age.

This time there was no hesitation as she placed her hand on the page.

She was still inside the rocket. A little confused, she looked for the book to realize it was gone. The machine was still there, but it didn't work. None of the keys on the piano worked either.

What had she done?

Going outside, she realized that she hadn't done anything.

She was in the Selentic Age after all.

The door shut behind her and wouldn't open again. There was nothing left to do but explore.

The place was covered in a dense fog. She could only see about ten feet in front of her. What had happened to the clear skies that Atrus had talked about?

One thing was for sure, the place was hot. The slight breeze was warm and with the mist adding humidity she felt like she was walking in an outdoor sauna.

She followed the metal walkway til it became a dirt path between two large boulders. In the right boulder was a door with a panel and five sliders and a red button beside it. Her heart sank. Not another piano puzzle. But when she tested the sliders all she heard were regular noises like a clock, water dripping, wind blowing, even a train whistle. She didn't know whether to be relieved or afraid.

Beyond the boulders the path opened up into a lunar looking landscape. To her right was something large that she decided to investigate later, straight ahead were stairs, to the left were more stairs and a bridge leading to a grassy hill with a few trees.

The hill must have been the one Atrus spoke about in the journal. It was still here and still looked the same, with the exception of a few things Melody was sure Atrus added himself.

One of the trees had a satellite dish attached to it. Since she doubted Atrus was watching football here it had to be for something important. Some kind of ornament was hanging from the dish over a pool of water that was pouring into the lake. On a platform to the left sat a bench. A blue piece of paper rested on it. She was surprised it hadn't blown away, but maybe the breeze didn't blow from the right direction to catch it.

Pocketing the paper, she examined the console to the right of the bench. It had a large red button and a picture of water dripping into a pool. Pressing the button, she heard a feedback noise and realized that the ornament was actually a microphone. It was recording the sound of the water dripping.

Water dripping? That had been one of the sounds on the slider lock for the door she had found! There were five sliders, so there had to be four more microphones for her to turn on and listen to the sound they recorded.

Going back to the junction, she took the other set of stairs. They took her to a walkway that had been built over a chasm. Looking over the side, she saw lava bubbling below. At the end of the walkway was a satellite dish and a console. The picture showed steam rising from a crack. She pushed the button and turned on the microphone. She concluded that it must have been recording the sound of the steam.

Heading back down and across the hills, she came to a console and satellite with a microphone that hung over a wind tunnel. Turning it on confirmed that it was recording the sound of the wind roaring in the tunnel.

Three down, she thought, two to go.

Melody was about to turn and go when she spotted something under the console. A ladder led down into a tunnel. The inside of the tunnel was lit by electric lights. Atrus had to have some kind of geo-thermal power generator in this Age keeping everything going.

The tunnel came out at a large rock in the center of the lake. It had to be the jutting rock from the journal. Atrus had built on it. There were several satellites and the first computer that she had seen. It had five buttons, each with a different picture on them, two arrows buttons, a screen, and a big red button with a Greek sign meaning 'sum'.

The pictures were familiar. One was dripping water, one steam coming from a crack and another wind blowing in swirls. She pressed the dripping water button. The screen turned on and showed the landscape. Using the green arrow buttons Melody was able to rotate the camera in each direction. She turned it until the satellite by the water came into view. When the satellite was lined up with the middle of the screen, all of the static cleared and all she could hear was the dripping water.

Melody smiled. It wasn't too hard if you could think logically.

She lined up the fire and wind satellites also. The other buttons showed a clock and crystals. The clock must be the large building that she hadn't explored yet and from there the crystals had to be close by.

Taking the tunnel back over to the mainland, she found the clock easily. After flipping on the microphone there, she searched the surrounding area for the crystals. She found them down a hill behind the clock. The wind rushing through the crystals made this strange high-pitched humming sound.

The console where she turned on the microphone had a red page sitting on top of it. Evidently the brother's hadn't stayed in this Age long enough to make themselves rooms. Was it because there were no people and no riches in this Age?

She went back to the central island and lined up the clock and crystal satellites. Not knowing what else to do, she pressed the sum button.

Each sound played one at a time: crystals, water, wind, fire and clock. She clapped her hands together. That had to be the order of the sounds at the slider door! Excited, she raced to test her theory.

Sure enough, when she adjusted the sliders to the correct sounds in the correct order and pushed the button the door slid open. Stairs lead down, then up to a pedestal on which lay the Myst-linking book.

Once again, she went to Sirrus' book first.

"Ahh, you have returned... additional page... prison from this book... onto the island of Myst," he smiled. "I see that you are... your name?"

Melody wanted to slap her forehead. She had never told them who she was. No wonder they wouldn't answer her questions. "I'm sorry. I don't know if you can hear me, but my name is Melody. I found a Myst-linking book in my great-uncle's attic. Did you know him? His name was Stanley Hunter."

He frowned. "I'm not... you very well... I need other red pages. I know you must be... but... must search and bring..."

"How many more are there?"

"... two more..." he answered. "When I am released I promise..."

"So," she said, thinking out loud. "If there are two more red pages, there must be two more blue pages too."

"Do not touch the blue pages!" he said in alarm. "... my brother Achenar..."

"Yes, I've met him."

"... a man of distorted mind and senses. He disgusts me."

Thinking back to what she had seen in the Mechanical Age, Melody had no choice but to agree with Sirrus on that note.

"Do not release Achenar... thirst for destruction is never-ending... please release me from this prison... greatly rewarded..."

"The only reward I want is for you to show me a way back to my home," Melody told him, but there was no response as the picture faded.

She eyed the blue book contemplatively. What Sirrus had told her about Achenar seemed to be true, but what about what Achenar had said about Sirrus? That he was a liar?

Curiosity got the better of her and she ended up replacing the blue page in the book to hear what Achenar had to say.

"You're back! Good!" he said giddily. "... more blue pages, you must! That's all I ask of you... been so long since my brother Sirrus wrongfully imprisoned me!"

"Sirrus imprisoned you?" Melody asked.

"Stupid, scheming... pretty speech... greed which is endless... done evil and he destroyed... do not bring the red pages to him! He'll..."

"He'll what? What evil did he do? What did he destroy? You have to tell me everything or I won't be able to help you."

"... tricked our father... murdered our father!"

Melody gasped in shock. "Murdered?! He murdered Atrus?!"

She could see Achenar nodding. "He'll murder you... Don't touch the red pages... beg you, bring blue... listen! You must... are my only hope! Help me...!"

The picture faded.

Melody sat the book back on the shelf before she could drop it. Murdered? Atrus was dead? Sirrus hadn't said anything about Atrus being dead. But then she hadn't asked. But if Achenar was as disturbed as Sirrus claimed, what if he was making it up? Maybe he had invented the story in his mind, but he believed it was true.

But if Sirrus was a liar, Achenar could be telling the truth about Atrus. The thought filled her with sadness. Through his journals she had felt as if she was getting to know Atrus. She had wanted to meet him so terribly.

When she felt tears coming on she shook her head sharply. She was crying over a man she had never met? How pathetic could she get?

In any case, she needed to find another red page. She wanted to ask Sirrus about Atrus and see what he had to say.

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**Don't forget to R & R pretty please!**

**:)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey there! So after you read this chapter you will know what my fav Age from Myst is because it will be the only one left. And then Melody has to decide who she believes and who she will set free.**

**Dun Dun DUN!**

**Thanks to everyone who has clicked on this story. I do not own Myst, the Ages or any character other than Melody (but that could change at any time... MUHAHAHA)**

**Don't forget to click that beautiful 'review' button. It makes me very happy. :)**

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Where should she go next? She asked herself that question as she studied the map. The line stopped at two other places : the sunken ship and the massive tree. Since she didn't have a magic eight ball Melody shut her eyes, let the line spin around several times before taking her finger off the button. Opening her eyes, she saw that it stopped on the sunken ship.

That was one way to make a decision.

Taking the elevator up to the tower to look at the key was getting to be routine for her. This time there were three dates :

October 11, 1984 10:04 am

January 17, 1207 5:46 am

November 23, 9791 6:57 pm

The only place where she had seen anything related to dates was at the planetarium. Before heading over there though, she decided to stop in the library and read Atrus' journal with a ship's anchor on the cover:

_Emmet was the first to live on The Rock. He named them The Rocks because that it what they were, a group of sharp rocks clustered together in the middle of a large sea. This is where Emmet lived. He enjoyed his life. Emmet occasionally would swim to nearby rocks, as it was never too far of a distance. _

_One day another person appeared on The Rocks, for no apparent reason to Emmet. Emmet named this new person Branch. Emmet and Branch quickly became friends, swimming and hunting for fish together often. Emmet showed Branch the simple cave in which he lived on the largest rock. Soon Branch discovered a place where he decided to live, also on the same large rock. The sun always shone brightly in their world and the water was always dazzlingly clear, allowing them to see almost to the deep ocean floor which surrounded them. The sun always shone. It was never too hot for the boys . A light breeze always came from the north and cooled the area down. _

_One day while Branch was swimming and having fun in the water he noticed another boy swimming. Branch brought the new boy to Emmet to find out what to call the new boy. Emmet said the boy should be called Will. Will was soon a part of the group and all three of the boys swam and enjoyed their perfect world._

_At least that is the story I was told when I arrived today on the island. Emmet, Branch and Will were surprised to see me at first, but even before the night ended we were all becoming good friends._

_Today, the second day on this newly created Age, a strange thing happened. It was not strange to me, but the boys did not understand what was happening. While I was relaxing under a large tree on one of the smaller rock islands it began to rain. It was a nice rain that lasted for about an hour in the morning. I explained to the boys that the rain was not harmful, yet they obviously still feared it. Before going to sleep tonight I told the boys I would leave the following day. I told them that while I was gone I would make a surprising change in their world. They didn't understand, not that I expected them to._

_I still do not fully understand what happened today. I was experimenting with the Art, testing the limits of the rules as dictated to me by Father. I attempted to create a boat by writing it into the world. I thought everything was planned correctly, yet somehow the boat had become gripped by the rock and broken in half. Although this test did not turn out as I had hoped I now have answers to a few of the questions my father never answered. As for the boat, I can see the boys enjoying it anyway and with that I am pleased. They have played on it all day. Even though the boat cannot move I have enjoyed studying from it. It is a much sturdier platform then the jagged rock. _

_In the course of my observations I have learned some very interesting things regarding the solar system of this Age. The nights are absolutely beautiful here. I have made note of and named a number of constellations that pass above me. Also during the night I catch glimmers of light from the horizon which I have not been able to discover if it is created by some natural phenomena or additional people on far off islands or rocks. I should very much like to discover which. I rather suspect it is additional people, which would explain the appearance of Branch and Will._

_The rain today was slightly heavier than usual. Just when the boys were getting used to the light rains, a small storm arrived. They were frightened of the heavier rain, not to mention the thunder and lightning. If rain has never fallen here until recently, as the boys tell me, I would like to discover why it is falling now. Regardless, I have decided to return home for a short while. I have also been thinking of some plans for a lighthouse that I hope to construct soon. I think that perhaps by shining a bright light towards the horizon, it might prove my suspicions regarding additional inhabitants. They would be curious about the light and travel to discovers it's source, if they have the means. _

_I return for many tools which I will need to construct the lighthouse. I have decided that after the lighthouse is constructed I will leave for some time and let the world's own imagination have control. _

_We have worked three weeks on the lighthouse now and are making great progress. The rocks that we are building on seems to not be as secure as I would like. I have had to alter my plans slightly, but those alterations pose no real problem. The boys are quite strong and have been helping me immensely. I estimate construction will be done within two days._

_The lighthouse is finished and we are all proud of our creation. The boys are amazed at the structure wrought with their own hands. That evening we powered up the generator, much to the boy's dread at first, and shined a great light to the horizon for many hours. I stayed the night in the top of the lighthouse and in the morning awoke to observe the sunrise without my being coated with the chilly blanket of ocean dew I had become accustomed to._

_It was Will who first saw the girl. She was swimming not far from the boat where Will was getting ready to hunt for fish. Then Will noticed a man not far away from the girl. Emmet was very pleased to meet the additional neighbors._

_I feel pleased to leave this Age. I have set in motion events that have nothing to do with writing or the Art, that will have a more profound effect on the world than I could have ever written. I think of this Age as a gift to myself that I will wrap and open some day in the future only to discover that it has changed so much that indeed it is a surprise. _

_Besides, I have yet another new Age that awaits me. It seems I'm going to need some way to travel underwater and so much planning is in order._

_It has been ten years since I left this Age, which I have since called the Stoneship Age. Upon returning, I cannot believe the changes that have taken place. The original three boys have grown into adults and there are many new faces that I do not recognize. Branch told me that it has not rained for seven years and the cool breezes are back again. They are all very content and have been serving me with new foods and showing me new materials that they have discovered. It even seems they have found gold somewhere. I see it in many forms around the island. My lighthouse has been kept in perfect condition and it looks as if they have tried their very best to keep it so. Yet I have noted that the entire rock it was built on has sunk approximately 40 or 50 meters. After a wonderful visit with my old friends I wondered aloud with them what things will be like here in another ten years._

Melody smiled as she read. This was her favorite journal so far. It was so sweet. She definitely wanted to travel to Stoneship next. Maybe she could meet Emmet, Branch and Will. Maybe they could tell her about Atrus and answer some questions she had about Sirrus and Achenar. It would be nice to travel to an Age with people. She was starting to feel lonely. The only people she had been able to talk to were literally in books.

The last few pages of the journal had drawings of constellations. She took the journal with her to the planetarium. Something told her that she needed to identify certain constellations.

She ended up being right again. By putting the dates into the chair and comparing the stars to the drawings in the journal, she was able to make out a leaf, a snake and a bug.

Now that she had them, what was she supposed to do with them?

It took a bit of searching to realize that the pillars surrounding the ship model in the pool in front of the library had the symbols of the constellations on them. By pushing the leaf, snake and bug she caused the ship model to ride out of the water.

The sound of rushing water made her whirl around. She gasped at what she saw.

The actual ship at the dock rose and floated on top of the water like a normal boat. Amazed, she walked slowly down to the dock. Testing with first one foot than the other, she climbed aboard.

The ship had no sails, no wheel and no rudder so she couldn't take it anywhere. What it did have was stairs leading down inside of it.

The door at the bottom of the stairs opened to a room the size of a shoe box. The only thing in the room was a chair.

A book rest on the chair.

Melody knew before she picked it up.

Opening it, she smiled and enjoyed the trip to Stoneship.

The first thing she felt was the rain. She looked up at the grey sky and covered her face against the soft rain. She was standing on a ship much like the one in Myst but, as described by Atrus, this ship was broken in half. The other half was to the right, coming out of the large boulder in front of her.

The silence chilled her more than the rain. Weren't there supposed to be people in this Age?

"Hello?" she called. "Emmet? Branch? Will? Anyone? I'm trying to find a man named Atrus. Hello?!"

The wind whistled. The rain continued to fall.

She waited.

There was no response.

Melody sank to her knees. The isolation was starting to get to her. She hadn't realized how starved she was for human contact until she'd had the hope of an Age with actual people on it. Now it appeared as if there was no one here. What had happened? Where were the people that Atrus had written about? Had they grown in such a number that they had to find a larger place to live?

Somehow though, she had a sneaking suspicion that something terrible had happened.

After about fifteen minutes of shaking and feeling sorry for herself, she stood and brushed off. All she could do now was try to find the red and blue pages and the linking book back to Myst.

There was a path leading into the boulder, but it was flooded with water.

To the far right was a wooden walkway to a lighthouse. Inside was a ladder leading up to a trapdoor but it was locked. A key was chained to the platform beneath the trapdoor. The chain led down into the dark water. Melody shook her head and went back the way she had come.

There was no way she was going in that water. She'd seen Jaws way too many times.

Going back to the half of the ship that she had appeared on, Melody went toward the front half. Another path into the boulder was also flooded. The boardwalk continued to lead upward, winding around the boulder all the way to the top. The only thing at the top of the large boulder was a telescope. Looking through, Melody scouted the area but saw nothing.

Going back down, she returned to the back half of the ship. There was a door that she hadn't noticed before, but when she opened it she saw yet another stairway that was also flooded with water.

Alright, she thought, something's gotta give. There had to be a way to drain the water.

On the opposite side of the ship from the lighthouse was a series of planks connecting a few smaller rocks. They led out to three large grey buttons that were protected from the weather by an umbrella.

Pushing the left button, she heard a pumping noise. She smiled to herself. Atrus and his logic puzzles.

Since only one button could be depressed at a time, Melody went to investigate what the left button did. It turned out that it cleared the water out of the hallway leading down into the ship. She followed it to another door that opened easily.

She could tell by the echoes that the room was large, but unfortunately it was so dark she couldn't see a thing. She felt along the wall, but couldn't find a light switch of any kind. Melody frowned as she shut the door. Maybe she could find a power source somewhere.

The right button, she discovered, cleared the water from the light house. Wooden planks had been pounded into the wall to make a circular staircase that led to the bottom. The only thing to investigate was a small wooden chest. When she tried to move it, she found it was too heavy. A valve on the side told her why. She opened it and water drained out. She eyed the stairs. It would be a rather awkward climb to lug the chest to the top. There was no way she wanted to risk the possibility of a broken neck.

An idea slowly unfolded in her mind.

Closing the valve on the chest, she climbed the stairs and went back to the pump controls. By pressing the middle button, she flooded the lighthouse again. She was thrilled when she discovered that her idea had worked.

Without the water to weigh it down, the chest floated to the top as the lower level filled with water. It now floated beside the ladder. The key on the chain unlocked to box. Inside was another key that unlocked the trap door.

Melody blew her hair out of her face. Whatever was up here, someone had gone to a lot of trouble to keep people out.

She was rather disappointed when all she found was a crank and a battery pack. It took quiet a while, but by using the crank she charged the batteries until there were full. Wires ran from the lighthouse to the boulder.

Melody yawned and looked at her watch. Whatever she had found could wait. She was tired and wet and cold. At least the top of the lighthouse was encased with glass so she was protected from the elements. Curling up on the wide ledge that ran around the place on level with the windows, Melody slept away from the rain and soft thunder that echoed across the empty sea.

The sun woke Melody as it beamed through the windows. The rain from the previous day was long gone. The sky was clear and vibrant blue. Stepping outside the lighthouse, she breathed deeply of the salty sea breeze. Unlike the Mechanical and Selentic Ages, Stoneship was beautiful, exciting and promised adventure.

The batteries that she had charged the previous night had run out so she spent the first fifteen minutes of the morning recharging them. You'd think with how smart Atrus was he would have come up with a better system.

Both tunnels leading into the boulder were lined with lights. She followed the first tunnel down and around until she came to a door with a green button. When she pushed it, the door slide open.

She quietly gasped.

Inside was a very opulent bedchamber. Straight in front of her, across the room, was a large four poster bed covered in rich fabric. The room was furnished with a chest of drawers and a desk that looked like that were made of sandalwood, lamps of carved ivory and several expensive looking rugs on the floor. The walls were carved wood, perhaps cherry wood. Several paintings decorated the walls and lush plants rested in gold pots.

It was so out of place with the rest of the Age it left Melody speechless for several minutes.

From what she had seen in the Mechanical Age, she concluded that the room must have belonged to Sirrus.

There was nothing on the desk but some writing materials and a globe toy that spun. The chest of drawers held much more. The two top drawers held silver, gold and bronze coins. The second and third drawers held silver dishes and expensive fabrics like silk and velvet. She caught her breath at the fourth drawer, which was filled with what looked like rubies, emeralds, sapphires and quite a few pearls. In the last drawer she found a red page. It was the only thing she took from the room.

The other tunnel led to another room. She knew it had been Achenar's as soon as she opened the door.

Across from the door was a bench with the horns of some animal decorating the wall above it. A lantern made from a human rib cage swung from a thick chain that hung from the ceiling. Melody grimaced and turned away.

The room was sparsely furnished, the bed having only a thin cover on it and it was grimy. Laying on the pillow was a blue page, which she pocketed.

Across the room from the bed was a simple chest of drawers. Most of the drawers were empty. A few held maps, but she didn't recognize anything on them.

A torn note in the middle drawer intrigued her. The parts she could read said something about a vault and marker switches. It had to be talking about Myst Island, because that was the only place she had seen marker switches. Was there a vault on Myst Island? Melody searched, but couldn't find the other half of the paper. She decided to take it with her, hoping she'd run across the other half in another Age.

But right now she needed to find the linking book and return to Myst.

As she was leaving the room, she noticed something strange about a part of the wall in the tunnel. An indent in the wall was a slightly different color than the rest of the wall. Crouching, she pressed on it.

It moved slightly.

Melody pushed harder until part of the wall gave way into another tunnel.

Another secret passageway.

It led to a room shaped sort of like a hexagon. Windows looked out into the water. Fish swam by. A jellyfish drifted against the glass, then moved lazily away. Melody spent several minutes watching the brightly colored fish before looking over the room.

A large compass rose was in the middle of the floor. Examining it, she found that each arrow of the compass pointed to a small black button. Curious, she pressed one.

She shrieked as the room became instantly shrouded in darkness.

A buzzer began going off and a green light blinked to show her where the door was. Stumbling and feeling her way around, she made her way back to the outside.

Okay, randomly pressing buttons was not a good thing.

When she returned to the lighthouse to charge the batteries again, she wondered about what had happened. Apparently pressing the wrong button caused the batteries to drain very quickly. So what would happen when she pressed the right button? How did she find out what the right button was?

After several hours of searching the area, she ended up back where she had started. She stared up at the lighthouse thoughtfully.

Alright Atrus, she thought, give me something to go on here. I know there has to be one little thing that I'm missing. That one thing that will tie it all together...

When she finally realized what it was she wanted to slap herself. Why hadn't she noticed it before?

There were two power lines leading away from the lighthouse.

One went to the boulder.

The other went to the ship itself.

Her gaze wandered up to the telescope. She had to somehow divert power from the boulder to the ship. Was that what pressing the right button on the compass rose did?

There was only one way to find out.

Using the telescope, which had the degree marks etched into the lense, she figured out that the lighthouse lined up with the 135 degree mark.

Too bad she didn't know anything about calculating degrees on a compass. She narrowed it down to four buttons.

It took her two tries, running back and recharging the batteries when she chose the wrong one.

By the third try she was tired and ready to give up. She picked a button and closed her eyes, bracing herself as she pushed it.

Nothing happened.

Opening her eyes, she found the lights still on.

Racing outside, she went first to the pump to drain the water from the ship's passage. She ran down to the door and threw it open.

The lights were on inside the large cabin. Now she could see the wooden railing and the black and white tile of stairs leading downward.

Melody laughed and felt like dancing in excitement.

Taking the steps two at a time, she had to go down two flights before reaching the bottom.

There, resting on a table, was the linking book to Myst.

Melody glanced up at the colorful fish that swam by. They seemed to watch her, as if sad to see her go. Indeed, she felt a slight sadness at leaving this very interesting Age.

But she had a job to do. For some reason, it was becoming more and more important that she complete it.

Melody felt a kind of inner excitement, like she was getting closer and closer to discovering something she now desperately needed to know.

Bidding a silent goodbye to the Stoneship Age, Melody opened the book and placed her hand on the page.


	6. Chapter 6

**Alright! The final Age of Myst and my personal fav of the first game : Channelwood!**

**Thanks again to everyone who has read my story, especially those who have read and reviewed. We are reaching the end of the first game and about to get into Riven. That is where things really get cool in my opinion. I have the book Myst : The Book of Atrus that I read all the time, so Riven is very dear to my heart. Plus there may be another character added in Riven... maybe... *sly grin***

**As always I do not own anything Myst. All I own is my character Melody.**

* * *

As usual, she went to Sirrus' book first.

He smiled in greeting to her. "Melody, with each page I can see you more clearly. You must... one remaining Age. Soon... free from this horrid prison book."

"Listen Sirrus," she said, determined to make him answer her this time. "I want you to tell me something. What happened to your father? Did you have anything to do with his disappearance?"

His eyes narrowed. "I see you have been... my brother. Listen to me Melody, Achenar is demented... took advantage of the freedom our father had given us... Achenar went... I ask you again... not retrieve the blue pages... destroy me and I shudder to think what he would... to you. He destroyed the other Ages... make sure he never will escape..."

She had to admit, he was very convincing. It certainly sounded as though he cared about her welfare. "I want to believe you Sirrus, but I'm not sure I can."

"I understand... must bring the red pages... all will be made clear, I promise. I'm sure your wisdom... see that I am innocent and he is guilty... this forgotten island long ago..." he smiled warmly. "I will owe you my life Melody. I look forward to meeting you properly once this is over."

He faded and the picture went dark.

He certainly was charming. Unfortunately she had a feeling that he knew it. She was certain he had been mildly flirting just then, but had he been serious or was he trying to charm her into freeing him?

Either way, it was time to hear what Achenar had to say.

He greeted her with his normal giddy excited laugh. "Hi my friend!... bring the blue pages," he suddenly looked surprised. "Oh! I see you are a..."

She arched an eyebrow. He was just now realizing that she was a girl? "My name is Melody," she told him.

"... good name, pretty name..."

"Thank you."

"Now we are truly friends... convinced that Sirrus is guilty."

Melody sighed. "So, we're back to this again?"

"Do not release him!... will destroy me just as he... innocent bystander! I was tricked and imprisoned!... you have witnessed his unbridled lust for riches!"

That made Melody pause. She had certainly seen evidence that Sirrus was greedy. How much had his greed consumed him?

"... four remaining worlds," Achenar was saying. "... almost perfect... final blow to father. He tricked him into believing... I was a murderer. I didn't kill father! I didn't!" he said almost desperately. "It was Sirrus! Bring me the remaining blue pages please!"

"I asked Sirrus about Atrus," Melody said. "He said that you were... off," she concluded for lack of a better word.

"Liar!" Achenar roared. "... must not be free!... last blue pages... must be free! I cannot bear it here for eternity! Please Melody, free me! Help me Melody! Help me...!"

He was still pleading as the picture faded.

Despite what she had seen of him, Melody found herself feeling a little sorry for Achenar. She'd never heard a grown man pleading so desperately for help.

Maybe he had changed. Maybe there was a way to help both Sirrus and Achenar.

They were both pleading for her to help them. She just couldn't ignore cries for help.

It was with a sense of accomplishment that Melody rotated the tower to the giant tree. The last Age. Her last chance to make a decision about who to free. She would have to pay close attention to all she saw and heard in this final Age.

The elevator ride to the top of the tower and climbing the key ladder had become a routine. This time it read 7, 2, 4.

The only thing she hadn't unlocked was the safe in the cabin. Since it was right next to the tree, it didn't take a genius to figure out what she had to do.

Returning to the library, she scanned the undamaged books on the shelf and found a journal with a leaf on the cover.

_I have called this age Channelwood and it is a very different world. Though it is exactly how I imagined it, it is still amazing to see it with my own eyes. Water covers this age as far as I can see, except for a small rocky island. Elsewhere there are only trees, which grow directly out of the water. A myriad of thin wooden pathways are built just above the water and disappear into the forest. I assume they were built some time ago for they appear aged. I am eager to discover more about this land and it's people, but I have arrived here late and I must rest._

_I was awakened this morning by strange noises coming from a pathway adjacent to the one on which I had slept. I saw a group of monkey-like people heading in my direction. They had not seen me yet. I did not feel threatened by their presence. Their response to me was one that I would have never expected. After staring at me for a short time, they fell to their knees and began what appeared to be some sort of ceremonial worship. I tried to speak to them, but they did not understand my language. Instead, they indicated through enthusiastic hand motions that I was to follow them. _

_As we walked, I began to notice then that waters below us were changing colors. Slowly, subtly, they would change from deep blue to muddy orange, then from muddy orange to beautifully clear. I was so intrigued by the water I hardly noticed that we had arrived at a ladder. Climbing the ladder led us to their village, which is about ten meters above the water and can only be reached by rope ladders that stretch from the lower path to the village level approximately halfway up the grand trees. _

_It is very interesting watching these people carry out their daily tasks. Even after watching them for hours I did not understand exactly what they were doing. At sunset they motioned for me to follow them. I followed the creatures to the doorway of an enormous hut. Strangely once inside I found that the hut appeared even larger than it had from the outside. The walls were garnished with bright metals. _

_In the center of the hut sat the leader of these people. At least he appeared to be their leader for he sat a meter off the floor in a thick throne. Guards surrounded the strong creature, who was dressed in many exotic colorful fabrics._

_Next to the leader sat a very old human. At least to some extent he appears human. His hair, which was only on his face and head, was completely gray almost white and hung very long around his frail body. His thin head hung limply by an almost grotesque neck that could not hold it's head up to look at me. But what a surprise! This creature could speak my language!_

_Shortly thereafter I was given a bed with some hand motions that looked to be telling me to go to sleep. I look forward to learning more._

_As I suspected the ancient creature is a human but he is old beyond his own reckoning and seems almost insane. However, the tree dwellers almost revere him as a god. They are treating me now in the same fashion, which makes me very uncomfortable. _

_It is almost impossible to understand this old man. His voice is feeble, but wild. He has adopted much of the language of the tree dwellers. He himself told me he had not spoken our own tongue in ages. He attempted to explain to me the history of this place. The following is my best translation of what he has told me:_

_Many years ago the humans and tree dwellers lived together in this place, which was then a vast island. They interacted very little. The humans dwelt on the ground and the tree dwellers lived high above the humans. Occasionally the island was disturbed by mysterious rumblings which happened randomly (some sort of tectonic or volcanic action I suspect.) The sometimes slight, sometimes heavy tremors would only last a short time, then they would stop, allowing everything to return to normal. One day things changed. The rumbling began and grew quickly to unprecedented levels. Soon it became apparent that the entire island was sinking slowly into the ocean around them. Many of the humans died that day, but not before sacrificing themselves in order to stop the sinking of the island. The humans who lived through this catastrophe moved into the trees, where they gradually died out (maybe because they were unequipped for such an environment, but I am not sure)._

_This is the story the old man communicated to me, although many details are very unclear in my mind. I am especially confused as to how the humans saved the island from completely sinking. In fact, I doubt the accuracy of that part of the story. The island must have stopped on it's own. Yet the old man believes the truth of the story as if he had been there and the tree dwellers worship him and apparently all humans as if they were heroes or gods. _

_The old man ended our conversation today with an event which I shall never forget. He began gripping my hands tightly, murmuring something about 'rest' and 'asleep'. He then said 'we had expected you to come sooner'. These actions filled me with a sort of immediate dread. With much effort he stood to his feet. I tried to help, but he pushed me away with more force than I imagined his frail body contained. The tree dwellers quietly surrounded him with very solemn faces. They then kneeled before him. He walked to each and placed his hand on their heads. All the while he murmured words which I did not understand. Finally he turned to me and smiled. Then he closed his eyes and walked out the door and off the narrow path high in the trees. The tree dwellers were silent. They began a procession down the nearest rope ladder. As I was descending I saw several of them pick up the body (he had fallen onto a lower level of the walkway) and carry it away. He was laid down at the dead-end of a short, pier-like structure. With the use of some potion, one of the tree creatures lit the pier on fire and I watched as the flames engulfed him. As this strange funeral proceeded, the waters around the pier changed to dull green._

_This morning I awoke, finding it hard to even believe the previous evenings events. The water is a dull green for as far as I can see now. For some reason the water no longer shifts color. _

_As I wander throughout the pathways the creatures watch me, curious to see what I will do next. They are constantly offering me strange objects of affection. I even found food outside the doorway to the room in which I had slept. This is a unique race of beings. I hope to learn their language soon so that I may learn more from them._

_I have lived on this world for three months off and on, and the tree dwellers have shown great hospitality. I am even beginning to learn bits of their language. I have decided to return home for an extended stay with my loving wife and my sons, and hopefully return with them. However, I am sure Catherine will once again refuse. A visit to this Age would be a wonderful experience for them all and I at least look forward to how Sirrus and Achenar will react to it's curious inhabitants. _

_Catherine is staying behind as expected. My sons have returned with me and they enjoy this Age very much. They get along very well with the tree dwellers and are picking up their language surprisingly fast. I have no doubt that it will not be too long until they can speak with the tree dwellers much better than myself. _

Melody turned the page and blinked. Strangely, the rest of the journal entries were in different colors. Maybe Atrus had run out of ink and had to make more. She wondered what he had used to create those different colors. And why had he used a different color for each journal entry?

Melody read on, hoping for an answer.

_I am leaving tomorrow to check on Osmoian Age. Sirrus suggested that I allow him and his brother to stay, though the idea unsettles me. I know the boys are growing up rapidly. The hospitality of these creatures is such that I could think of no better place to leave them alone for a short while, so I will consent to their request. I warned the boys not to take advantage of the respect the tree dwellers have for their ideas. They seemed to understand my warning and I have faith they will follow it. _

_Much to my dismay, upon arriving in Everdune I learned that Pran and her people are continuing to be menaced by the Choctic. I fear for their survival and plan on returning to her shortly after checking on Sirrus and Achenar here. _

_After watching Sirrus and Achenar I see they are handling things very well and I think I can put to rest any fears about leaving them in Channelwood again and for a little longer time._

_The tree dwellers seem slightly distressed that I am leaving, but are happy that Sirrus and Achenar are staying behind again._

_I have been gone for over three days and have been to many different places. I had to tell Sirrus and Achenar about Pran's death today and they were visibly shaken, although they only remember her from their childhood. Catherine has suggested that it would wise for Sirrus and Achenar to leave Channelwood for a while and I have to agree. They will be returning with me when I leave again._

_I have told my sons that they will be returning with me in two days. They spent the entire night telling me of an adventure they experienced in my absence and it was rather remarkable. It seems they constructed a boat with the creatures and traveled some ways out into the surrounding waters. I enjoyed hearing them talk excitedly of their adventures and I am reminded of my own adventures as a child._

_I finally understood why the tree dwellers have been giving me their many inks and insisting I write with them. Looking through some of my past entries I see now that the inks have changed from the black I thought they were to various different colors. I have shown some of the creatures my journal and they laughed and howled. I did not know that they had such a sense of humor. Even now as I look through this very colorful journal I cannot help but laugh myself. _

So that explained it. Melody laughed as she read the entry. The tree dwellers of Channelwood sounded like fun. She couldn't wait to meet them, if they were still there. She had gotten her hopes up that she would see people in Stoneship, but there had been no one there. She sincerely hoped that Channelwood wouldn't be deserted as well. She was starting to become very lonely for contact with another living creature.

_We will be returning tomorrow so my sons are with the creatures for the last night here. They have told me they would like to come to Channelwood again and also asked if they can revisit some other Ages alone, though I will have to think about their request. I believe they have proved to me that they are trustworthy and responsible. Catherine will also have to help me decide whether they are ready for travel alone. For now I must give my farewells to the creatures, for I do not know how long it will be until I visit this Age again._

Melody reread the last entry several times. The way this journal described Sirrus and Achenar was a far cry from what she had seen in the Ages she had been to so far.

They had asked if they could revisit other Ages alone? For some reason, her suspicions rose at reading that. Why had they wanted to go alone? So they could conquer the Ages without Atrus' interference?

But no, they had proved they were trustworthy in Channelwood. If that was truly the way they were when Atrus penned this journal, what had happened to change them so?

An old saying went through her mind:

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character give him power.

Abraham Lincoln had said that.

Had the freedom and power gone to both Sirrus and Achenar's heads?

If so, could she trust either of them?

The numbers from the tower did unlock the safe in the cabin, but the only thing inside was a matchbox. Melody used it to light the boiler.

The flame was very low. Turning the wheel released more gas and turned up the flame. She didn't know what she was supposed to do, but if Atrus had gone through that much trouble to hide the matchbox the boiler had to be important. All she could do was just keep slowly turning the wheel until...

A loud thud made her jump.

Going outside, she watched in surprise as the giant tree rose out of the ground. There was more of the tree underground! It was genius! No one would think there was more to the tree than what they saw on the surface.

When the tree stopped Melody approached and saw a compartment that had been hollowed out in the trunk.

A brown book lay inside, the word 'Channelwood' adorning the cover.

Melody could hardly contain her excitement as she eagerly placed her hand on the page.

* * *

The only sound she could hear was the chirping of insects. She was standing on a wooden dock just above the water. Looking around, she saw more paths snaking through the trees like a maze.

The Age was just as Atrus had described it. Large trees grew right out of the water. In the distance, she could see a small rocky island that had what looked like a windmill on it.

Melody looked up into the trees to see the huts of the tree dwellers. Many of them were in disrepair.

Her heart sank. Something told her she was, once again, completely alone.

Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She didn't have time for tears. There was work to be done. She had to find the red and blues pages and the linking book back to Myst.

She navigated the maze of pathways and managed to find an elevator with a hand crank.

The elevator stopped at a single room. She was surprised when she saw the Myst-linking book laying on a table inside.

This was certainly a change of pace. Usually she found the pages first, then the Myst book. Well, at least she knew where the book was. Now she needed to find the pages.

The walkways were a confusing maze, but eventually she found her way to another elevator. It took her up to the village of the tree dwellers.

The huts were built around the tree trunks. Bridges connected all the huts. As she explored the huts, she found that she had to be careful where she put her foot. The floor was falling out of most of them. She searched every hut, but found nothing but clays dishes, storage pots, wooden tools and fruit hanging to dry.

She was confused over what to do next until she looked up.

There was another level of huts above the one she was currently on.

Going back to the elevator, she used the hand crank to go higher.

If the lower huts were for villagers, Melody had no doubt that the upper level was for Sirrus and Achenar. She was right.

A square hut and two large rectangular huts made up the highest level of the village. The square one had a metal door. Inside were candle holders, tribal masks on the wall and a strange table with sharp ridges around the edge. There was a button underneath it and Melody pushed it out of curiosity.

She gasped when Achenar's head floated into view above the table. He spoke in a language that she assumed was the tree dweller's. In the middle of the table was a hinge. Curious, Melody touched it.

Only reflexes made her jerk her arm back before the top of the table snapped shut like a bear trap, the sharp ridges serving as teeth.

Achenar, she concluded. It had to be Achenar who came up with this.

Atrus had said that the tree dwellers treated humans like gods. Had Sirrus and Achenar taken advantage of this belief and made themselves gods to the tree dwellers? Was this some kind of altar for sacrifices?

The thought of it made her sick.

A poorly concealed door behind the trap lead to a bridge.

She walked along it carefully. The wind was much stronger in the canopy of the forest. The bridge creaked and groaned under her, but held strong.

The bridge led to one of the large rectangular huts. Inside was a shabby bed, a table covered with large nails and heavy pliers, spears and pikes lined one wall and a electronic gadget sat in the corner.

Melody nodded. Definitely Achenar's room.

Under the table she found a blue page, which she pocketed.

She examined the gadget and discovered that it was a recorder. There were several buttons. She pressed one had saw the image of Achenar's head again speaking the same message that she had seen in the altar room. She tried each of the buttons in turn and found that each had a different message in the tree dweller's language. Melody wondered what he was telling them, but then decided she probably didn't want to know.

The last button brought up an image of Sirrus.

"Hello dear brother," he said with a smile. "Very interesting device you have here. I hope I'm not recording over anything important," he laughed as though he wasn't sorry at all.

Melody frowned. 'Dear brother'? What was this about? The brothers were constantly talking bad against each other. Weren't they enemies?

In the message, Sirrus stopped laughing and suddenly got serious. "He is preparing. Remember, take only one page."

As the message faded, Melody was more confused than ever.

Who was 'he'? Could Sirrus be talking about Atrus? It sounded as if the brothers were plotting something. And what did 'take only one page' mean?

Still puzzling over the strange message, Melody followed another bridge over to the other rectangular hut which she assumed was Sirrus'. From the look of the expensive decor inside, there was no doubt she was right.

A large four poster bed was covered in rich cloth. An ornate desk held an astrolabe, ink and a quill and the red page, which she took out of habit.

At the bed, she was surprised to find a knife under the pillow. Maybe things weren't that good between the brothers after all.

Next to the bed was a table with a drawer. Inside she found a torn piece of paper.

It was the other half of the torn note she had found in Stoneship!

Pulling out the other half, she fitted them together and read the note:

Myst Island Vault:

Turn all the marker switches to the 'on' position.

go down to the dock.

turn the marker switch there 'off'.

A vault? There had to be something important inside if Sirrus and Achenar had gone to such trouble to hide the two pieces of the note. Maybe it would be good to find out what they had hidden there.

Now that she had both pages she could leave Channelwood.

As she made her way to the elevator, she gazed at the empty village around her. What had happened here? Had Achenar killed all of the tree dwellers? Had Sirrus taken what he wanted then left them to die? Had it been both of them?

The mist added a haunted feeling to the age that chilled her. It was so sad. This once happy, vibrant village gone.

Atrus had to have been devastated when he'd realized what had become of the Ages he loved so much. Had he died of a broken heart or had he, as Achenar claimed, been murdered by his own son? And where was Catherine? Was she dead as well? It was yet another question she was afraid she didn't want to know the answer to.

Sirrus and Achenar.

When the time came, how would she know who to rescue? Which one did she trust? They had destroyed and pillaged these wonderful Ages. Had their imprisonment changed them at all? How could she know for sure? If she released Achenar, he would might torture and kill her as he had done to others. But if she released Sirrus he might murder her as Achenar claimed he had murdered their father.

These thoughts continued to run through Melody's mind as she rode the elevator down to the lowest level and made her way to the Myst book.

She had come to this Age full of excitement.

Now she was leaving with feelings of sorrow, confusion and dread.

* * *

***rubs hands* Alrighty! next chappie will be the confrontation and Melody's decision. Which one will she free?**

**I realize that if you have played the games you know what is going to happen, but hey let me build suspense a little okay?**

**Don't forget to read and review! Pretty please?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi hi! *wave* Special thanks to a reviewer named Winona who is following the story and giving me good critique. To answer your question about the maze : I spent WAY too long in that place and had WAY too many nightmares about it. I thought it best not to relieve the horror by writing about it. Plus for the sake of the story I wanted to simplify some of the more complex and long-winded puzzles. Don't worry, a LOT of them are still in the story. I think I only left out three puzzles from the entire series and that is saying something. Thank you for the reviews you have given me. I really appreciate it and it encourages me to keep going. **

**Hence, this chappie is dedicated to Winona :)**

* * *

With slow, heavy steps she entered the library. Taking a deep breath, she placed the red page in the book and opened it.

Sirrus looked incredibly happy to see her. "You finally returned. I owe you a debt of gratitude Melody, for you have nearly released me."

Melody bit her lip. "Throughout this whole thing I thought that if I couldn't save both you and Achenar, I would probably save you over him. But now I'm not as sure. The things I saw and heard in Channelwood... I'm very confused Sirrus and it is more important than ever that you tell me the truth now."

He nodded understandingly. "Very well. I suppose I do owe you some explanation. I was imprisoned by my father. Father was a master of the books. He wrote hundreds of them, all describing and linking to the fantastic worlds and ages which he had discovered," he sighed and shook his head. "Such a waste. Achenar burnt most of these books. Our father was always watchful... grew up under his strict supervision. But when we became old enough he gave us unbridled access to the books. My brother began to become disturbed. Soon he gave in to his twisted pleasure of conquest and destruction. It was horrific."

"Why didn't you do something about it?" Melody asked. "You were there."

"I discovered his insanity too late. In warning my father, I thought he would recognize Achenar's guilt. But in a fit of rage, he imprisoned us both until he could determine which of us was guilty. He has never returned," Sirrus lowered his head. "I can only assume he is dead, leaving me trapped forever," he looked up at her and smiled charmingly. "But now you are here. You must find one more page and I will be forever grateful."

Melody shook her head. "That still doesn't answer my questions about what I saw in Channelwood. What was the meaning of that message you left for Achenar about only taking one page?"

"There is no time," he said, a slight hurried tone in his voice. "... last book on the middle shelf. Find pattern 158 and recreate it in the door of the fireplace. There you will find a secret room that holds the last red page. Ignore the blue page," he said, a hard gleam in his eyes. "It chills me to think what would happen to you if you release Achenar."

"Sirrus, you didn't answer my question," she reminded him.

"One more warning," he went on as if he hadn't heard her, "there is a green book in that secret room as well. If you touch it, you will be imprisoned forever. Our father gave us this same warning long ago."

"Sirrus!" Melody said, exasperated. "Would you please just give me a straight answer?!"

"I promise I will tell you everything once you release me," he said impatiently. "Go now. Soon we will meet face to face."

With that, he faded.

"Oh no you don't," she said, closing the book and opening it again. "You have to answer me this time. Sirrus? Sirrus!"

When he didn't respond, she slammed the book shut. Now she was more suspicious than ever. Why wouldn't he answer her questions? Why was he so adamant that she release him before he would tell her anything? Her trust for Sirrus had been wavering for a while and now it was nearly dead.

She went to the blue book and replaced the page. She would listen to Achenar one last time and then decide who she would believe.

For once he didn't greet her with his usual crazy giggle. This time he merely smiled. "I'm glad to see that you returned to help me."

"Not yet Achenar," she said firmly. "First I want some answers. Sirrus refuses to answer me and that makes me not want to trust him anymore."

"It was Sirrus my wicked brother who did this to me. Do not listen to him I warn you! He is a liar! Do not be persuaded by his evil lies! Do not release him. He killed my father! He will kill you!"

"So you keep telling me," she replied. "Achenar, I am giving you the chance to tell me the truth. I want to know everything."

"... began when Sirrus began to lust for riches. He stole from the Ages, hoarding all the riches for himself. While Father was away, Sirrus pronounced himself king of the Ages. Then he began to destroy them: burned their forests, pulled down their structures, flooded their lands, murdered their inhabitants."

"Why didn't you stop him?" she asked. "Or go to your father?"

"I tried to warn Father, but Sirrus got to him first with his clever talk. Lying tongue of a serpent! He convinced Father that I had destroyed the Ages, that I was greedy for wealth and plunder, tricked him into believing that I was a murderer. But as Father died, he doubted Sirrus' lies and imprisoned us both... swear to you what I say is true! My brother deserves to be punished! I only wish for vengeance for my dear father..." he had tears in his eyes as he spoke. "I only need one more page to be free."

"If Sirrus was the one destroying the Ages," Melody asked suspiciously. "Then why were your rooms filled with weapons, why was your face above that altar in Channalwood? Did you use that altar for sacrifices? You need to tell me Achenar."

"There will be time for that later..."

"No, not later," she said. "Now Achenar."

"On the far right of the middle shelf is a book. Find pattern 158 and copy it on the fireplace. Find the blue page and return quickly."

Melody felt her temper rising. "Achenar, you're not listening to me. I want you to tell me..."

"Don't touch the green book," he warned, interrupting her. "It's a prison book. You will rot and die trapped. Follow my instructions and it will be worth your while, I promise you that."

"Achenar..."

"Go!"

With that he faded.

Melody wanted to scream in frustration. They were avoiding her questions on purpose. Why should she free either of them?

The answer came immediately.

Because there was no one else who could possibly tell her how to get home.

But which one would help her and which one would kill her?

The book of patterns was easy to find. Taking it with her, she went inside the fireplace as she had done when she had first arrived in Myst. Studying pattern 158 closely, Melody copied it on the wall on the inside of the fireplace.

She threw her arms out the steady herself as the entire fireplace rotated.

The secret room was more like a secret book shelf. There were two shelves. On the bottom shelf sat the blue and red pages, propped up next to each other. The green book they had warned her about was on the upper shelf.

Melody stared at the pages, looking from one to the other. Which one should she take? Which man did she believe?

She picked up the blue page and studied it.

From what she had seen about Achenar he was a violent, cruel, bloodthirsty man. She shook her head. There was no way she could trust him. She replaced the paper on the shelf.

She picked up the red page and studied it as well.

Achenar had claimed that Sirrus was greedy and hoarded the riches of the Ages. Everything she had seen related to Sirrus in the ages proved this to be true. She could see him twisting words and lying as easily as she could see Achenar murdering someone.

She replaced the red page on the shelf.

Everything she had seen since the Mechanical Age spoke against the brothers and nothing had vindicated them. She had seen no evidence that either of their stories were true.

So what now? Was she just going to be trapped on Myst Island forever, unable to go anywhere but to the four deserted ages with only two conniving brothers for company?

Her gaze went to the green book.

There was another option.

Sirrus and Achenar had both warned her not to touch the green book. It was the only part of their stories that agreed with each other. But could she trust their word? Everything she had learned told her she couldn't, but what if this was the one thing they were telling the truth about? What if she became trapped too?

Slowly, she reached up and took the green book off the shelf.

What did she really have to lose?

Hesitating easily a hundred times, she opened the book...

Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw inside.

A man sat writing at a desk.

Melody gasped and nearly dropped the book. There was another person here!

He looked up at her gasp. "Who the devil are you?" he asked in surprise.

Melody couldn't believe her eyes. She recognized the man.

"Atrus!" she exclaimed. "You're Atrus! I thought you were dead! Where are you? What are you doing in there? How did you get in there? Are you trapped? Where is Catherine? Are you..."

He lifted a hand to stop her. "I have many questions for you as well. Who are you?"

"My name is Melody," she said, still not believing what she was seeing. "I'll come there and we can..."

"Don't come here to D'ni," he warned her. "Not yet. You seem to know me, yet I'm sure I've never seen you before."

Melody nodded. "Yes sir. I found a linking book to Myst in my great-uncle's attic. I didn't know what it was and accidently linked to Myst."

"Ah, the linking books. They are an Art I learned from my father many years ago. I assume you have met my sons, otherwise you wouldn't have known about this hiding place."

"Yes, I met them. But they both told me you were dead."

"Where are they now?" Atrus asked tensely.

"Trapped in the red and blue books."

He relaxed and nodded. "Yes, of course. I wrote the red and blue books to trap thieves. I had no idea they would end up trapping my own sons."

"They've been trying to convince me to free them," Melody informed him. "What really happened? I've been told two very different stories."

"I gave them free reign over the books. Their imaginations went wild. They dreamed of riches and power. They devised a plan, an evil plan to trap me here. They used their own mother, my dear Catherine, to lure me here to D'ni. Then they removed a single page from the book. I cannot return without that page. Please find it and bring it to me by linking here," he smiled. "I pray you believe me over the lies my sons have told you."

"Of course I do Atrus. I will return as soon as I find the page."

She closed the book and decided to take it with her as she returned to the library.

She eyed the red and blue books.

Why not? They deserved it.

Going to the red book first, she waited for Sirrus to come into view.

He looked disappointed. "I see you have not brought the red page. Maybe you did not understand my instructions. Go to the bookshelf and find..."

He broke off when she held up the green book. "You're busted," she said angrily. "I know everything. You lied to me."

"No," he said quickly. "Melody, you don't understand..."

"I understand perfectly," she interrupted him. "You tried to trick me into releasing you. What would you have done then? Killed me in cold blood? It's over Sirrus. Now I know the truth and you'll never be free to hurt people again."

"No Melody! Listen to me! Melody...!"

She slammed the book shut, cutting off his pleading cries.

Next she went to the blue book.

"You've returned!" Achenar said in shock. "Where is the blue page?! Why did you not bring it?!"

"I came to tell you I will not be freeing you Achenar," she held up the green book. "You lied to me. Atrus is still alive. I know everything."

Achenar looked so scared Melody almost felt sorry for him. "No! You can't leave me here! You must free me! Free me! Free me...!"

Melody slowly closed the book, drowning out Achenar's demands for help.

She didn't feel sorry for either of them.

* * *

**Yay! Melody made the right choice! No bad endings!**

**...**

**What?**

**Moving on, this may be the end of one journey for Melody but as any true Myst fan knows the end of one game is the beginning of another. Next chapter will be filler stuff and then *drum roll* we will be going to Riven! See ya later!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here we go! Chapter 8! Woo!**

**Okay not that exciting I know, but the next chappie will have us entering Riven! How will Melody handle facing Gehn and perhaps meeting someone new? *wiggles eyebrows***

**As always I own nothing having to do with Myst. All I have control over is Melody. She will not let me say I 'own' her.**

* * *

The next question was where to find the missing page Atrus needed. She searched the island for hours, but found nothing. The thought of having to search the four Ages gave her a headache. What if Sirrus and Achenar hadn't hidden the page, but burned it?

She clamped down on her rising panic. No, she wouldn't think like that. There had to be something she was missing.

When she remembered what it was, she wanted to slap herself.

The vault!

She had never looked for the vault! That had to be where the page was! It would explain why Sirrus and Achenar had gone to such lengths to hide the location of the vault.

Pulling the paper out, she reread the note.

First she had to turn all the marker switches on. She flipped on all eight, then looked at the note again. Making her way to the dock, she turned the marker switch off.

The bottom of the marker box opened.

Inside was a single white page.

Melody's hands shook with excitement as she opened the green book.

Finally, she was going to meet Atrus face to face. Turning to the front, she placed her hand on the page and felt the familiar rush as she linked to D'ni.

Melody opened her eyes to see she was inside a large room, like the dungeon of a castle. Atrus stood from his desk and came toward her.

"Do you have the page?" he asked.

Her hands were shaking as she handed it to him. Going back to his desk, he placed the page inside the book.

Then he turned to her. "You've done the right thing. I will return to Myst and bring justice to my sons. Please wait for me. I will return shortly."

She watched open-mouthed as he placed a hand on the page. His body glowed and then faded.

Sitting on a stone off to the side, Melody tried to take in all that had happened. Somehow, it still didn't seem real. How had she gone from being a broke, jobless and soon-to-be-homeless ordinary girl to having an adventure beyond her wildest imagination? What would she do when she went home?

Melody laughed. She would certainly never look at books the same way again.

She felt a rush of air and looked up to see Atrus appear.

"It is done," he said. He placed the book on his desk and sat down.

"Atrus," she said hesitantly. "I would really like to talk to you about..."

"I'm afraid my writing cannot wait... Melody, wasn't it? It is the world where my wife is being held hostage."

Melody gasped. "Catherine? Hostage? By who?"

"I don't have time right now to explain. What I'm doing here is urgent."

She felt a chill go over her. "But I... I was hoping you would help me get home."

He looked up at her. "I'm very sorry, but this writing is a matter of life and death for many people. All I can offer you is the library on Myst and the books that are there. You will no longer have my sons to deal with, so you may explore the remaining Ages at your leisure."

Melody couldn't believe her ears. "What am I supposed to do? There is nothing in those Ages, nothing for me at least." She felt embarrassed as tears gathered in her eyes. "I don't want to be alone anymore."

Atrus was moved. "These past few days must have been very difficult for you. I'm truly sorry, but there is really nothing I can do presently to help you get home. If it would make you feel better, you are welcome to remain here with me for as long as you like."

She smiled, wiping away her tears. "Thank you."

Atrus returned her smile before going back to his writing.

Melody decided to explore this place which would be her home for who knew how long. There were only two doors in the entire place. One led to a bedchamber, the other to a garden which seemed to grow edible plants.

She returned to the bedchamber and laid down. A sudden exhaustion had overtaken her and she sank into a deep sleep.

Melody awoke slowly, forgetting where she was for several minutes.

Slowly, the events of the past days came back to her. She had found Atrus, but she couldn't go home. What was she going to do now? Atrus wrote in that large book on his desk feverishly, not stopping to rest and barely taking the time to eat. He had said it was a matter of life and death that he keep writing. If she helped him with it, would he have time to send her home?

It was worth a shot.

She entered the large room where Atrus was still writing. He looked up as she approached.

"You are awake," he said. "You slept for quite a while. It shows how much of a strain you've been under. I apologize again for my sons."

"You have nothing to be sorry about Atrus," she assured him. "Thank you for allowing me to stay here," she leaned over to look at the book. "You said that Catherine was being held hostage in that world you're writing in. How can I help you rescue her?"

He shook his head. "I can't ask you to do that."

"You're not asking, I'm offering. I want to go home. You can't help me until Catherine is rescued. I'll help you if you promise to help me when it's over."

"I am facing a foe much more dangerous than my sons," he said, and sighed. "I feel terrible about you taking such a risk, but I will certainly need your help to free my wife. I would be grateful for your help."

"Tell me what to do."

He pushed the Myst book toward her. "First, I need more ink. Can you link to Myst and retrieve my supply from the library. It's in a compartment behind the map of the island."

Melody nodded and linked to Myst.

Going to the library, she glanced at the shelves were the red and blue books had been.

Now there was only ash and burn marks.

Melody whistled. Atrus hadn't been kidding around about bringing justice to his sons.

She found the ink and returned to D'ni.

"Thank you," Atrus said when she sat the ink down. "I will need a few days to prepare something that you will need. I suggest you rest. The journey ahead will be difficult and dangerous."

Nearly a week went by before Atrus said he had prepared everything.

"There is a great deal of history you should know," he told her. "But I'm afraid I must continue my writing." He handed her a journal. "Most of what you will need to know is in there. Keep it well hidden."

Melody placed it inside the backpack-like bag she had discovered among Atrus' belongings. "Where exactly am I going?"

"To an Age called Riven. For reasons you'll discover, I can't send you there with a way out."

Her eyes snapped to his. "Are you telling me I'm basically stranding myself in an Age with a villain worse than Sirrus and Achenar?"

He regarded her gravely. "I'm afraid so. But I can give you this," he handed her another book.

She opened it. A moving picture of D'ni greeted her.

"It appears to be a linking book," Atrus explained. "But it is in fact a prison book such as the ones my sons were trapped in."

Melody nodded. Atrus had explained prison books to her. "So this is a one man prison made to look like D'ni."

"Precisely. You'll need it to capture Gehn."

"Gehn? Is that the name of the guy holding Catherine hostage?"

Atrus nodded. "Once you have captured Gehn and released Catherine, signal me and I will come with a linking book to bring us back."

"Signal you? How?"

"You'll need to create a major disturbance in the balance of the Age for me to notice as I am writing," he replied. He held open the giant book to her. "Go now. Time is of the essence."

Melody stared at the moving page hesitantly. She had never entered an Age with no way out before. What if she got trapped? What if she couldn't find a way to signal Atrus? What if this Gehn guy captured her along with Catherine?

She looked up at Atrus, who was watching her steadily.

"Atrus," she said worriedly. "I'm not so sure about this anymore. I want to help you and Catherine, but what if I mess up?"

Her new friend smiled. "After everything you've accomplished my friend, I have complete confidence in you."

Melody smiled at the reassuring look in his eyes.

Looking back at the page, she took a deep breath.

"Here goes nothing," she said as she linked to Riven.

* * *

**Okie dokie then! Melody is ready to face the unknown in an effort to save Catherine and get home. What will Riven bring her? You'll have to wait and find out :)**

**Don't forget to read and review. It makes me a happy panda.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Surprise! I sprung Chapter 9 on you! Two chappies in one day cuz I love you! :D and I might be a little bored... but mostly because I love you! *hugs***

**So Melody is about to take her first few steps into Riven... let us see what awaits her shall we...?**

* * *

When her feet touched solid ground, she had to wait for a moment for the sick feeling in her stomach to subside.

A loud clang made her open her eyes.

She had linked into a small, shed-like building. Iron bars had closed the moment she had arrived.

Wonderful. Not three seconds into her rescue attempt and she had already been caught.

Being sneaky was just not her specialty.

As long as she was stuck here, she might as well read the journal Atrus had given her. Whatever happened next, she definitely wanted to be prepared.

They held for more than thirty years, but the corrections I made to Riven have finally failed. The island has resumed the familiar pattern of decay that is the hallmark of my father's work. I must now race to implement this new patch before it's too late. I only hope that my revised theories are sound.

Revisions to Riven completed. There are still a number of minor adjustments which need to be made, but the basic corrections have been entered and should be working.

Something's not right. I've been monitoring the instruments for several hours now but have thus far observed no change. It's possible that I have made an error, although I checked my entry against my prenotation and can find no discrepancy. I have not had a rest in nearly three days, so it may be that I am just not seeing it. If the fault is with my foundational assumptions however... perhaps after a short rest I will see something.

Success! It appears that my repairs have been effective after all. The gateway image has become noticeably clearer and although it is impossible to know this with absolute certainty the island seems to have quieted itself. Just a few more weeks of work and I should be free at last to go there myself and attempt to bring Catherine back. The past eight months have left me little time to think, to devise a strategy for getting her out of there. I have received no sign from her in all that time. I am afraid that... No. I must assume that she is alright, else my fears undermine my efforts to bring her back.

I did not create the age of Riven. Unlike my father, I have never presumed to have such power. And yet the future of all those who live there has fallen into my hands. So far I've managed to read the page before it turns. The island continues to appear stable and I would like to believe that I have saved a dying world. But the theories of one individual cannot support the lives of real people indefinitely. I must get everyone off of Riven as soon as possible.

The problem now is Gehn. I'll never be able to rescue Catherine and relocate the islanders if he is still the man he once was. I haven't seen him in over thirty years, but his history forces me to assume that he is still a threat.

His mission to restore the D'ni civilization has left too many innocent cultures dying in it's wake and would continue to do so were he to once again be free of the confines of Riven, or the 5th Age as he coldly titled it.

The universe has been safe from his corruptive influences for the last thirty-three years because no one has been able to leave that Age. The last linking book out of Riven having been lost in the Star Fissure upon my return to Myst. That was my intention, to maroon my father on Riven by removing all the existing links to other worlds. And since the Art of constructing books has long been lost with the fall of the D'ni, he would be trapped there for the remainder of his lifetime and effectively segregated from the countless other worlds that he would have invaded.

In effect that is what we achieved, but the way it fell however was no one's ideal. Though the sting of the incident has gradually faded from my memory, the deep pain of the responsibility for what actually came to be had never left me. At the time it all seemed so clear: Gehn's destructive path could not be allowed to continue. But it was never my choice that the innocent inhabitants of Riven who had already suffered so much would be the ones to pay for it.

Enough. To dwell in the past is to die in the present. The situation is not the same as it was then. The knowledge I have acquired in the years since that time has yet to be applied to this problem.

I think I have the solution. Why it did not occur to me sooner I do not know, unless the idea of it had been pushed out with the thought of my sons.

A prison book.

Many years ago during a hunting exploration through the ruins of D'ni, I chanced upon a formula for a most unusual type of book. Unfortunately, due to the fact that my father was then in the habit of confiscating my discoveries, I was forced to leave it behind. Years later however as part of my efforts to protect the vulnerable worlds linked to the books in my library, I was pleased to find that I could still recall most of the formula and with little experimentation quickly succeeded in creating one of these devices myself. The

procedure is actually quite simple: by altering key lines of text but slightly, a normal linking book's connection can be partially severed in such as anyone who attempts to use the book will be permanently trapped in the dark void of the link. That is unless someone else then uses the book, at which point that person will become trapped and the first person displaced back into the world.

The technique can be applied to books that have already been written, changes to the original text being so slight that anyone who is unfamiliar with the code will be unable to detect them. If indeed my father has not changed, what better bait could there be than a book that appeared to be a link back here to D'ni?

Trouble. My nightly analysis of the island's condition has revealed that the tremors have begun again. The pattern however is new. The disturbances are the result of the changes I have made. This did not at first concern me, however tremors of this type were one of the possible side-effects that I had anticipated during this initial phase of the island's readjustment. In order to verify my assumptions, I have decided to calculate again incorporating the new data.

The results were not what I expected. The damage to the understructure is more extensive than I realized. I can no longer go to Riven as planned.

Catherine, forgive me...

I must act while I still have the time. The signs are barely visible but there is no question that the island's deterioration is accelerating. Total collapse is imminent unless I can keep ahead, and that is becoming increasingly difficult to do.

With every passing moment I gain a clearer picture of the incredible chaos that my father's economy of words has yielded, but it is a damaging process. The complexity of the problem is overwhelming. There is no end to this. The last few days have all but conviced me that the collapse of Riven is inevitable and that at best I can only strive to delay it now and hope that at some point the island will become stable enough to risk a rescue attempt.

I think I've come up with a way to subdue the tremors. It will require my exclusive attention for at least a month or two, so it may be necessary to discontinue these journal entries for a while.

Something truly miraculous has happened! Beyond all conceivable probability, someone has finally found my lost Myst-linking book and has freed me from this prison. A young woman named Melody saw through my sons' lies and has joined me here. She told me a curious story about finding my Myst-linking book among her dead great-uncle's belongings. I vaguely remember meeting a Stanley Hunter many years ago, but the place and circumstances escape me. How he came into possession of my linking book is also a mystery.

My heart goes out to the poor girl. Fear and exhaustion have taken their toll on her. She is sleeping now. That is the best thing for her.

Melody wishes me to help her get home, but I cannot leave Riven for fear it will collapse entirely without my corrections. But my new friend has offered to help me. This may be the solution to my dilemma.

I'm still not sure it can work. The logistics of such a scheme are formidable, but the mere fact that it may now be possible for me to continue my repairs to Riven and yet proceed with my original intent to find Catherine has given me renewed hope.

The last few days have left me little time to work out the remaining problems with sending Melody to Riven. It did occur to me however that if a way could be found to signal me once Gehn had been captured it would no longer be necessary to take a real linking book to Riven and risk the possibility of inadvertently releasing Gehn. The deteriorated state of the capturing image makes the use of a visual signal impossible, but the picture remains a reliable indicator of Riven's condition none the less by measuring and interpreting variations in the noise patterns. I am still able to observe basic changes that occur in the Age even though I cannot see them. The problem is that my instruments can only detect changes that occur on a fundamental level and it seems unlikely that an individual could affect such an elementary change from within an Age. The idea may be foolish. Still, there is a known weakness that may be worth investigating. An anomaly that appears as a rift between two seperate systems: The Star Fissure. But how, or even if, this fact could be exploited I cannot say.

Sending Melody to Riven also means that once I receive the signal that she is ready to return I would have to leave my writing in order to take a real linking book there myself. However, provided my father was safely out of the way, this should take very little time. After that, assuming the island has not incurred much damage in my absence, it should then be a relatively simple matter to hold it together long enough for Catherine to return to Riven and evacuate the remaining islanders.

Predetermining a signal without knowing the topography of the island may prove to be impossible, but I'm afraid there can be only one answer to the question of whether or not I shall send my friend to Riven with a way out: the potential for failure would be greatly diminished if the prison book is all that is taken there.

I'm sure my father is expecting me to bring a linking book to Riven.

May he not be disappointed.

Approaching footsteps made her jump and shove the journal back into her bag.

A man walked by the cage. Judging from his clothes and the fact that he was carrying some kind of gun made her conclude that he was a guard, apparently on patrol. He had nearly passed the cage before he noticed her.

He looked shocked. He came toward her, talking excitedly in a language she had never heard before. When she didn't respond, he pointed to her shoulder bag and spoke more slowly.

He wanted to go through her bag? She bit her lip.

The man pointed again and spoke more rapidly.

Well she wasn't going to hand him her bag, but maybe she could show him a few unimportant things to satisfy his curiosity.

Melody slowly placed the bag on the floor of her prison. "Alright, alright," she said slowly. "I'll show you what I've got." She pulled out a few of the things she had brought with her: a length of rope, a pencil, some food from Atrus' garden, a cloak, a flint rock, a glowing crystal for a flashlight and a comb.

When she pulled out the prison book, his eyes widened at the sight of it. He gestured for her to give it to him.

"No," she said, holding it away.

He gestured again, speaking rapidly.

Melody shook her head. "It's mine."

He pointed the gun at her, yelling at her angrily.

She had no choice but to hand it over.

Laying his gun down, the guard opened the book and gazed at the moving picture of D'ni. He looked back up at her and smiled.

"Yeah, yeah," she said, "Very cool, I know. Now give it back."

He held the book away from her.

"Give it back!" she ordered angrily.

He laughed at her.

Suddenly he stopped laughing. A look of shock crossed his face as his hand flew to his neck. A second later, he was lying on the ground. Unfortunately, the prison book had fallen just beyond her reach.

Melody watched in alarm as the guard's body was dragged out of sight by his ankles. What the heck was...?

She gasped as a masked figure suddenly appeared. She watched as he scooped up the prison book.

"Wait!" she called. "That's mine!"

He looked back at her, then turned to leave.

"Hey!" she called. "At least get me out of here!"

He stopped and seemed to study her behind his mask. Maybe he couldn't understand her.

"Please," she pleaded. "Don't leave me here."

After a tense moment, the man yanked a lever nearby. The bars slowly lowered. He jammed a dagger into the lever so the cage wouldn't shut again.

By the time she had gathered her stuff into her shoulder bag the bars had completely lowered. She looked up to thank the mysterious man.

He was gone.

And he had taken the prison book with him.

Melody was certain she had never felt more stupid in her life than she did at that moment.

Not five minutes in Riven and she had been captured and had the prison book stolen. Now she had to retrieve the prison book, trap Gehn, find and free Catherine and somehow signal Atrus before the Age completely fell apart.

No problem...

* * *

**Interesting no? Melody just has to do everything doesn't she?**

**Melody : You mean you ****make**** me do everything...**

**Me : Details, details. Better be nice to me. I control your fate!**

**Melody : You already have most of the story written, at least as far as-**

**Me : *presses buzzer* No spoilers! Bad character! Bad! Go to your room!**

**Melody : ...**

**Me : ... please?**

**Melody : Whatever. Please read and review before Myst drives me nuts.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hiya those of you who have read this far! Thank you! I appreciate you reading this story that is very dear to my heart.**

**Time to start exploring Riven! Yay!**

**As always please review. It helps me more then you could ever know.**

* * *

Next to the linking spot was a giant dagger stuck in the ground. It had the same design as the dagger the masked man had jammed into the lever for the cage.

She studied the cage thoughtfully. If this was the official linking spot for Riven why was there a cage there? Anyone who linked to Riven would be instantly trapped. Had Gehn built the cage to trap his son, knowing that Atrus would come to rescue Catherine?

Not far from the linking spot was a telescope that was looking down over a closed shaft. A numbered lock kept her from opening it. She supposed she should be surprised that the telescope was pointing down instead of up, but Melody had ceased to be surprised by the strange things she encountered in the Ages she ended up in.

On the cliff above the telescope was a giant dome. Looking out over the ocean, she spotted several other islands all connected by cables.

She discovered some stairs and headed up to a room that was built into the rock wall.

The entire room looked like it was made of gold. On the floor was a strange pattern, which she assumed was Gehn's crest: five pen-tips in a star pattern surrounded by a circle with a symbol in the middle.

The ceiling of the room was like the observatory, covered in stars. Something that looked like a pen-tip descended from the ceiling.

Five columns, carved to look like trees, connected the floor to the ceiling. Large carved beetles sat in the middle of the columns. By pulling a ring at the bottom of body, the beetle's wings opened to reveal a peephole. Looking through it showed paintings lit from behind.

All of the paintings looked like religious representations like you would see in Renaissance paintings. Two showed a man she assumed was Gehn writing in a book. People, animals, plants, water and stars poured from the pen in his hand.

Melody snorted. Gehn certainly had delusions of god-hood. He obviously mistakenly believed that he created the worlds he wrote linking books to.

Another painting showed Gehn throwing someone, most likely Atrus, into what Atrus had called the Star Fissure. That was obviously a lie. Gehn must have made up a story of him banishing Atrus to make his ruse of being a god more believable.

The last two paintings showed guilds (builders, educators, maintainers, surveyors and book makers) and...

She froze when she came to the final painting.

What it implied wasn't possible.

The final painting seemed to depict a book-making process. Had Gehn found a way to make and write linking books to other Ages? If so, why was he still here in Riven? Could he escape? Had he escaped?

Melody backed away from the beetles and headed out the other doorway. All she could do was continue to explore while keeping out of sight.

Outside the room was a staircase that led down into a large temple-like room. A large circular cage stood at the end of the room. Behind the cage was a large stained glass window of Gehn's crest. On either side of the cage were stone pillars carved to look like some kind of giant fish with tusks. In front of the pillars were piles of food and flowers.

Were they offerings to the fish or to Gehn?

As she approached the cage, the image of a man's face appeared. Melody squeaked and darted behind a pillar. She heard the man speaking what sounded like the same language as the guard. Slowly, she peeked out from her hiding place.

He continued to speak as if he didn't see her.

She waved her hand.

No reaction.

Stepping out from behind the pillar, she walked toward the man's head. He began to speak again, repeating what he had said before. It reminded her of the recorder she had found in Channelwood. It must have been activated when she entered the room.

So who was the man? He looked to be about sixty, but there was no way to tell for sure. Atrus himself looked forty when he was in fact over a hundred years old. Evidently the D'ni people lived for quite a bit longer than ordinary humans.

Could this be Gehn? There was a faint resemblance between the man she was seeing and Atrus. He certainly looked old enough to be Atrus' father.

The message finished and the projection disappeared. Melody spotted another door and head for it. She had to keep moving or risk being found by more of Gehn's guards.

The door led to a tunnel through the mountain to the other side. It ended at a cave with a long cable leading out of it and some machinery looked interesting. It seemed to be some kind of station.

Stepping onto the platform, Melody pressed the big round blue button on the console.

The whir of machinery coming to life made her smile.

A few minutes later a vehicle came along the cable and stopped at the station. It turned around automatically and the door opened. Inside there was only a seat and a console with a lever.

Sitting down, Melody pulled the lever.

The door shut and the cable car sped away from the cave. It soared over the water and followed the cables to another island. This island was quite a bit larger than the first, which she decided to call Dome Island.

As she approached, Melody noticed what looked like a forest and a few buildings. A village maybe? If it was, that meant there would be more people and more of a chance of her being caught. She would have to be even more careful now.

The car came to a stop inside a shallow cave. The entrance was brilliantly lit by the sun bouncing off the rocks. Embedded in the rock wall was what looked like a wooden eyeball. Melody frowned in curiosity and examined it. When she touched it, then eyeball rolled back and made a noise. A symbol was on the back side of it. It rolled back into place, making the same noise once again.

Melody whipped out her notebook and copied down the symbol. She had been traveling in Ages long enough to know that all symbols and numbers were important.

The only way out of the cave was a natural staircase cut into the rock. They led up and out over a rope bridge. A stone path wound through a forest of trees that had been cut down. A metal axe stuck in one of the trunks made her rather nervous.

She saw some steps leading down to what looked like a mine cart, but she wanted to explore the rest of the path first. She followed it around the cleared forest and toward a jungle, the trees had been stripped of their bark. Glowing mushrooms illuminated a walkway through the dense jungle. Off the path, she noticed another large dagger. At the base of it was another wooden eyeball. Melody copied down the symbol.

She eventually found some more steps leading down to what looked like another statue of the tusked fish she had seen in the temple. It was made of wooden and very large. She approached it curiously. What exactly was it supposed to be? Was that an actual creature in Riven? If so, she really didn't want to meet it.

A lever caught her attention and she pulled it out of habit.

The mouth of the wooden fish lowered to form steps leading up inside it.

Somehow she just wasn't surprised.

Inside was an elevator that she rode to a second floor in the forest. Melody shook her head. Only in an Age would a second floor in a forest make any sense.

A path through the trees led to a rotating golden dome. In front of it was what looked like some kind of viewer. By looking through it she realized that there were symbols carved into the dome and only one was gold like the rest of it. By pressing a button on the viewer she caused it to slow down and finally stop on the gold symbol. The dome rotated the opposite way and opened. Inside was a book on a pedestal behind glass. There was a combination lock underneath it, but Melody didn't feel like guessing at the numbers. She would just have to keep an eye out for it.

Farther down the walkway led to a flight of stairs that led up to solid ground. Melody spotted the guard tower a second too late. She dropped down in a futile effort to keep from being seen, but the guard in the tower took off.

Melody swore under her breath. So much for the element of surprise.

A small building in front of her seemed to be the only hope she had of a hiding place. Darting inside, she closed the door just as two men ran past and down the stairs, obviously looking for her.

The only thing inside the building was a chair covered in a large snake skin and decorated with a reptile skull on top of the headrest. There were two levers attached to the chair.

Sitting in the chair gingerly, Melody pulled the left lever and nothing happened. Pulling the right one caused her to gasp and hang on as the chair rose toward the ceiling, which opened. The chair turned slowly as it rose until it was facing the opposite direction than before. From the high vantage point Melody could see the village. Strange rounded houses were built into the side of a cliff, wooden walkways and pulleys connected everything. A dock was built along the bottom a few feet above the water.

The water itself was a mystery. There were several holes in the water. Melody stared and rubbed her eyes, thinking she was seeing things. The holes were positioned along an underwater track that ran throughout the lagoon. Right below the chair was an extremely large golden cage with a gaping hole in the floor. A gold walkway extended from the top of the cage to a building with cells that she assumed was a prison.

After experimenting a bit, she discovered that by moving the left lever she could move a bar hanging over the hole up to the walkway and all the way down to the water. Considering the looks of the monstrous fish she had seen so far, she could only assume that Gehn was feeding prisoners to it.

Melody shivered at the thought. She really didn't want to end up as fish food.

She pulled the right lever to go down. The sounds of shouts and struggles caused her to pause at the door. Peeking out, she watched in alarm as the two guards from before dragged a third man toward the village. It was the masked man who had helped her!

What could she do? The good Samaritan part of her brain told her she had to help him. If she didn't, Gehn would feed him to the monster fish and probably enjoy it. How to get down there without being seen was the question.

* * *

**Here we go again! Melody getting distracted by a good deed.**

**Melody : once again, you are making me do this.**

**Me : Hush!**

**Melody : *rolls eyes* just upload this chapter so we can get on to the next one.**

**Me : Stop telling me what to do! You're my character! I tell you what to do! I'm in charge here!**

**Melody : keep telling yourself that.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Me : now that I got Miss Attitude problem settled down-**

**Melody : *muffled* she locked me in the closet!**

**Me : dang it, the gag slipped again! While I go and adjust it - I mean, while I go check on Melody why don't you guys enjoy this chappie? Don't forget to review!**

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Melody made her way carefully back down the elevator and to the first floor of the jungle. She hadn't gone far went she heard a rustle, a thud and a cry.

Hurrying down one of the many paths, she stopped short.

A little girl who couldn't have been more than five years old had tripped and fallen. She was holding her knee and crying pitifully.

Melody rushed forward. "Are you alright? Let me see."

The little girl looked up and cried out, her eyes wide with fear.

"No, no," Melody said hurriedly. "Don't be scared," she gestured slowly to the girl's knee and smiled. "I just want to help you."

The child whimpered and spoke rapidly in another language.

Melody started to hum softly the first tune that popped in her head. Phil Collin's 'You'll be in My Heart' seemed suitable for this particular case.

When the girl stopped crying, Melody was encouraged and continued humming and moving forward. Soon she was kneeling beside the little child. She was adorable, with long dark brown hair and pretty large brown eyes. The simple dress of soft leather was well-made and the small moccasins fit well.

Melody continued to hum as she examined the girl's knee.

"It's just a scratch," she said. "You'll be okay."

The girl just blinked and stared at her.

"Where is your mommy?"

Blink, blink.

"You don't understand a word I'm saying do you?"

Blink.

Melody sighed. "Okay, let's start with the basics," she pointed to herself. "Melody... Mel... o... dee..."

"Mel-o-dee," the girl sounded out hesitantly.

Melody nodded and pointed to the girl.

The girl blinked a couple more times, but seemed to understand. "Nee-ra."

"Neera?" Melody asked. "If that's your name, it's pretty. Well Neera, how about we get you home alright?" She reached her arms toward the little girl, who imitated her.

Picking the child up, who weighed no more than a sparrow, Melody looked around. "Which way?"

Neera pointed down a path.

Knowing she was probably going to regret it later, Melody set out to take the child home.

The path led up stairs and over a chasm to a gate which led to more steps down into a cave. The walls of the cave were covered with drawings of Gehn feeding villagers to a giant fish.

Melody set her jaw and did her best to ignore them.

The cave opened to the dock that was on the lower level of the village. Down the dock a ways was a woman mending a basket. Neera struggled and Melody set her down. The little girl waved and smiled before hurrying toward the woman. She called to her mother, who looked up in relief then in fear when she spotted Melody. Scooping up her child, the woman ran away and disappeared into one of the circular houses.

Melody sighed. It seemed that everyone in this place either wanted to capture her or was afraid of her. She didn't look that weird. Had these people never seen auburn hair before? Maybe it was her green-grey eyes that freaked them out. Or that she was tall. From what she had seen so far the people of Riven averaged at about 5'5. Melody herself was 5'8.

Something in the water caught her eye. It was some kind of spyglass in the middle of the lagoon. Narrowing her eyes at it, Melody followed the dock around. Beyond the spyglass was another wooden eyeball floating in the water. It was too far for her to make it out, but she figured she would just have to check it out later. Right now she had a mission.

The dock ended at a wooden ladder that led to the upper level of the village. She ended up at a landing that had an oven, an altar and several drums. The meat cooking in the oven made her mouth water, but she forced herself to ignore it.

Off to the side was what looked like a mini metal submarine. Pulling the lever next to it lowered it into the water, but there was no way she could see to get to it from there.

Going back down the ladder and along the dock led her back to the cave. There was another opening she hadn't noticed before. It led out to a natural staircase in the rocks. She followed it down and around to a small beach.

On the rocks in the small tidal pool were two large animals that looked like a cross between a walrus, a whale and a pelican. As she approached, they made a sound like the noise from the second wooden eyeball that she had found. The rock they were sunning themselves on also had a wooden eyeball. Melody noted the symbol and turned it to hear the sound it made.

The strange guttural noise had the animals hooting in alarm. Melody got splashed as they dove into the water and disappeared. Could it have been the noise of the monstrous fish that had scared them?

A path lead away from the beach and around through a tunnel in the rock wall surrounding the lagoon. When it opened up again, Melody found herself on the other side of the village. She wasn't surprised to find another wooden eyeball. This one made the sound of the beetles from the jungle. Out of habit now, she made a note of the symbol on the ball.

One thing she was excited to discover was the little submarine/train had lowered right where she could access it. She spent several minutes eyeing the strange hole in the water above the opening to the sub. She touched the edges gingerly. Her hand went right through into the water. When she pulled it out, her hand was dry. The water remained where it was like it was being drawn by a magnet or something.

Melody shook her head. She wasn't going to question it. For all she knew, the water in Riven had magnetic properties.

She opened the hatch of the small sub/train and climbed inside.

It gave the word cramped a whole new meaning. Either the people were smaller than she'd thought, or this was a one-person mode of transportation. There were two levers. By fiddling with them, she discovered she could turn the sub around or move it forward along the track. She opted to go forward and see where she ended up.

The first place the sub/train stopped was a dock beside a small building. Climbing out, she made her way cautiously inside to find the place empty. It was a fairly large room with rows of benches, two blackboards, a projector like the one she'd seen in the temple and several odds and ends on tables.

It didn't take a genius to figure out it was a school.

Turning the crank on the projector played another video clip of Gehn talking in the D'ni language. Teaching the children from a young age to worship him, no doubt.

The blackboards had a list of symbols she assumed was the D'ni alphabet. It appeared that Gehn wanted the Rivenese people to learn as much about the D'ni culture as possible. He really was obsessed with his ancestry. On a table by the door she discovered what turned out to be a morbid game of double hangman. Two wooden figures were hanging from a gallows over a wooden monster fish with it's mouth open. By pulling a lever, a set of numbers whirled and wherever it landed would be the number of times one of the figures was lowered. The game kept going, switching from one figure to the other, until one was 'eaten' by the monster fish.

It gave her chills to think on it, but the game was useful in helping her learn the D'ni number system 1-10.

The fish wasn't the only monster in Riven, she thought as she left.

It certainly wasn't the most dangerous.

* * *

**Okay I know this chapter is really short compared to my others but this was the best stopping point I could find for what is coming up next. **

**Melody : you just like leaving people dangling**

**Me : how did you get out of the closet?**

**Melody : ... *glares* are we ****really**** going to go there?**

**Me : not my fault that is where your mind automatically : Actually it is your fault since you created me-**

**Me : I said hush woman! *smiles are readers* Pretty please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello everyone! *crickets chirp* *clears throat* anyway... next chapter is here! And introducing a new character! Well not technically a 'new' character considering you do actually see someone in the cell in-game, but a 'new' character in the sense that he will be having a much bigger role in my story then he did in the game. Have I piqued your curiosity yet?**

* * *

The next stop was the gallows.

Melody eyed the water under the hole in the floor. She hadn't seen any of the monster fish so far, but that didn't mean that they weren't there waiting for her to fall in.

Reaching carefully, she managed to grab hold of the trapeze-looking bar. Sitting on it, she pulled on a rope and rode all the way to the top.

The place was so quiet. She kept a close eye out for guards, but there didn't seem to be any. She hurried over the walkway to the prison and began hunting for the masked man. They couldn't have already feed him to Jaws, could they? No, she would have heard or seen it.

The fourth cell she looked into was the only one occupied.

Even though she had been expecting it, indeed had been looking for him, it still made her jump.

At least that's what she told herself.

She wasn't about to admit that she had been startled by how dangerously and ruggedly handsome he was.

He had hair that was dark brown, almost black, and hung to his shoulders, slate colored eyes and a face that could have been sculpted from granite. Add to it the football-player-sized shoulders and a belted waist any bodybuilder would have killed to call his own and Melody was fighting the urge to fan herself.

She couldn't stop her mouth from sliding open, but she did manage to keep her tongue from hitting the floor.

He glanced up darkly and his expression didn't change much when he recognized her.

He jumped to his feet and all 6'2 of him strode over to her. Even though there were bars between them, Melody still took a step back reflexively.

He began speaking sharply in another language that wasn't D'ni. Could it be Rivenese? Either way, there was no way she was going to even try and make sense of what he was saying.

"Hold on a minute," she said, holding up her hands to stop him. "I can't understand you so I doubt you'll understand me, but I'm here to get you out. Let me find a way to open this door," her eyes darted around and lighted upon a wheel off to the side that looked promising. "I think I just found it. Hang on, I'll have you free in a sec."

He didn't respond and she could only hope he got the message.

The wheel was heavy and hard to move, but she kept at it. "This is in return for you getting me out earlier," she told him as she worked. "I suppose you wear that mask to scare people. Don't see why you'd need it though. One look at you coming at me and I'd be running away with my tail between my legs."

She didn't expect a response and she didn't get one. It was like when she had found Atrus. She had been by herself for so long that she just had to talk to somebody.

It took her a full five minutes to get the door open enough for him to squeeze out. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and waited.

Nothing happened.

"Uh... buddy?" she called. "I don't know when some guards will come along so I think we should move. Dude?"

She peeked inside and gasped.

The cell was empty.

Melody stood inside the cell, her mouth working but no sound coming out.

It had finally happened.

She'd completely lost her mind.

There had been a man in here. A massive, mouth-watering-ly gorgeous man. How could he just disappear?

He couldn't. There must be something she was missing.

Starting with the wall by the door, she examined every inch of the walls of the cell from floor to ceiling. It shocked her that no one came along and found her in there. Was everyone afraid she had a disease or something? Had Gehn ordered them to stay away from her? He had to know she was here by now. He had to know Atrus had sent her. What was he planning to do to her? Capture her? Hold her hostage along with Catherine? Feed her to his pets?

That last thought made her pale so she forced it from her mind.

After a while her hand encountered a slight crack in the wall. It ran from the floor to the ceiling in too straight a line to be natural. Pushing with all her strength, she felt a rush of excitement when the wall slide open to reveal a secret passage.

From her trip to Stoneship how could she not have guessed before?

How had the prisoners made this without anyone knowing?

A new thought occurred to her. Had the secret passage been written into the Age? But how? Had Atrus or Catherine written in after they'd trapped Gehn here? But what would be the purpose? And how had Mr. Gorgeous known about it?

The only way to find out would be to follow it and see where it led.

It led to a tunnel that wound around underneath the prison. Glowing orbs in ornamental sconces lit the way. It was cool and she could hear the pounding of the ocean above her. The walls seemed sturdy, but she hurried just the same. Although she could think of worse ways to die than trapped underground with Mr. Gorgeous.

The long tunnel ended up at a heavy wooden door that she expected to be locked, but swung open easily. She was a little shocked by that. She was so used to figuring out elaborate locks that to find an unlocked door was slightly unsettling.

"Hello?" she called softly as she entered. "Dude? You there?"

But the large circular room was empty.

She squelched the stab of disappointment at not seeing Mr. Gorgeous and wondered where he had gone. The only door she could see was the one she'd come in.

The majority of the floor was taken up by a large area encircled by upright stone tablets that came to her knee. Each tablet had an animal carved into it. In front of the tablets, across from the door she had entered, was a series of circular rocks that grew larger as they went out. It reminded her of rings in a tree. In the center of the circular rocks was the symbol of a dagger. The same dagger she had seen throughout Riven.

The daggers weren't Gehn's but the mark of these mysterious masked people. And the animals obviously had something to do with the wooden eyeballs she kept finding. She had already discovered that the symbols were the D'ni number system. Checking her notebook, she realized she had found four eyeballs so far. The only one she hadn't been able to mark down had been the one out in the middle of the lagoon. Since the ones she had found were marked 2-5, the missing eyeball had to be number one. Was that all there were? If so, that meant a five animal tablet combination. She had to find a way to get to that eyeball and see what kind of noise it made.

And since Mr. Gorgeous was no where to be seen she decided her only option was to go back the way she had came.

Melody found herself hoping that she hadn't seen the last of him...

Amazingly the door to the prison was still open. Maybe the guards had not bothered to close the door on an empty cell.

After spending nearly half an hour puttering around in the sub/train she finally gave up on getting close enough to see the ball in the water. There had to be another way. There was always another way.

She had just climbed out of the sub at the entrance of the village when she heard running feet.

Oh sure, she thought sarcastically, now the guards show up.

Two men chased her all the way into the jungle, shouting at her the whole way. She supposed they were telling her to stop, like that was going to happen.

By the time she reached the other side of the jungle her lungs were burning. Leaning over with her hands on her knees, she tried to catch her breath. There was no possible way she could keep this up. These guys were marathon runners and she was out of shape.

Her eyes caught the mine cart from before. At least she could hide in it til the guards were gone and she could plan her next move.

She took a precious second to dig in her bag and pull out her comb, tossing it far up the path toward the cable car. Hopefully they would think she'd gone back to Dome Island. She crouched inside the cart and waited.

Within seconds footsteps raced past her. They stopped abruptly and from the rapid speech she guessed they had found her comb.

She breathed a sigh of relief when they once again took off running toward the cable car. But she couldn't rest long. They'd see the cable car was still there and know she was still on the island. She leaned back against the side of the cart. At least she could catch her breath for a moment...

The cart began to move. She was so startled she didn't think to get out before it was too late. It went down a steep hill, gaining momentum each second. Melody screamed when the cart went flying through an underwater tunnel, a tunnel that was made by glowing red rings. She'd known there was something weird about the water in Riven. Apparently Gehn had discovered how to manipulate it and had used it in another form of transportation. All she could do was sit back and enjoy the ride toward another island.

* * *

**So there you have it. The now dubbed 'Mr. Gorgeous' has joined our little Myst family.**

**Melody : Myst family? All you have is me and this guy that you only have made up.**

**Me : Hush up or no cookies for you!**

**Don't forget to review to let me know people actually read this. It encourages me to keep going.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Another chapter for tonight. I have decided to upload two chapters every time I upload. Don't ask me why, I just feel like it. Probably because we still have so far to go. We aren't even half-way through the second game and I have written all the way to the end of the fourth game.**

**Without further ado, drum roll please,**

***crash***

**... not what I wanted, but I'll take what I can get. Here's chapter 13.**

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The cart stopped at an island that was made entirely of a giant crater. She decided to call it Crater Island. The track ended inside the massive crater in front of a large lake in the middle of it. Pipes and machinery were everywhere. The largest machine she recognized as the paper maker from the paintings. So the mine cart was used to transport lumber from the forest to this place to be made into paper.

Melody followed a drainage pipe through a small tunnel to the outside of the crater. It led to a dome. Out of habit, she pressed the button on the little machine to stop the dome at the gold symbol. She still didn't have the combination, but at least she wouldn't have to do this later.

Above the dome was a rock ledge that led upward to a balcony. She made the hazardous climb without looking down too much and was relieved when she climbed over the railing onto the balcony. She was about to go in when she noticed a walkway leading back to Dome Island. So some of the islands were connected after all. She thought for several moments, then because the walkway looked like it went inside the top of the giant dome she decided to see what was there.

It led over the water, through the top of the giant dome and out the other side, down some stairs to yet another rotating dome. Each island seemed to have one. She got the symbol and opened the dome.

Now that she felt that she had accomplished something, she went back to the balcony on Crater Island.

For once she found a door unlocked and entered a good sized room.

It was an office. She didn't have to guess who's it was.

On a desk to her left she found writing equipment and a wooden eyeball. A paper beside it told her that the balls were not Gehn's. The ball she was looking at was the one from the water. Every time he removed a ball, another appeared in the exact same place. Gehn wrote that he suspected the balls were important but he didn't know what they were for. She made a note of the symbol on the ball before continuing her search.

Next to the desk was a table with a large chunk of tree truck with a magnifying glass over it. Gehn was examining the rings of the tree for some reason. To see how old it was maybe? Also on the table was more paper, ink, a paper press and a pipe.

The pipe was warm, which un-nerved her. She had to explore this place and get out fast. She really didn't want to run into Gehn yet. Not until she had rescued Catherine.

To think she had complained about the Ages on Myst because there were no people. Now she'd take the loneliness of those Ages compared to the fear she felt now.

Across the room from the table was a furnace filled with burned books. She pulled one out, hoping she would be able to tell what it was, but it fell apart when she touched it. Some of the ashes drifted to the floor. Oh well, Gehn had to have known she was here by now. No sense in trying to hide her presence now.

Next to the furnace was another desk with a teapot, a cup, a trap that had a piece of paper under it that said it was for catching frogs and a leather book. She opened it and realized with a start that she was looking at Gehn's journal.

There was so much writing she didn't have time to read it all. But what if it revealed where Catherine was being held? Did she dare take it with her? No, no sense in pissing off the overlord with man-eating fish as pets.

Melody made a quick decision and locked both doors leading out of the room. She would speed read as best she could and hope she could get the heck out of dodge before Gehn returned.

Twenty nerve-racking minutes later she made sure everything was as she had found it, unlocked both doors and hurried out the door opposite the balcony. It led to a cave with another cable car. She wasn't sure where it went, but it was better than staying where she was. She hopped in and pulled the lever. The car turned around and began it's trip to another island.

Melody couldn't enjoy the ride. Her mind was too busy turning over everything she had learned from the journal.

It had started out mundane enough, with Gehn talking about his cataloging of the elements of Riven and his experiments with ink and paper. Gehn was trying to write working Ages so he could escape. Unfortunately none of them seemed to work. The furnace had been filled with his failures. He lamented that his long-term goal would not be accomplished.

It had continued with his comments and theories about the Star Fissure. Atrus and Catherine had thrown themselves into it when they had trapped him in Riven, so Gehn had concluded it was safe. But without knowing it's true nature he hadn't attempted to use it himself. The villagers were terrified of it and unwilling to test it for him. As a result, he had closed off the Star Fissure. That must have been what was under the massive telescope she had seen on Dome Island.

Gehn realized that Atrus had trapped him there with no way out, but as Riven was Catherine's home world he wasn't afraid that the Star Fissure would destroy it. He believed his son meant for Riven to be a prison for him and not a death sentence, so he didn't believe that Riven was collapsing.

Several entries spoke of his constructing imagers (the thing she had seen in the temple and the school) and of someone named Keta. He believed the number 5 to be very important to the D'ni civilization and, as 5 is very prominent in Riven, it was proof that the D'ni created the worlds they linked to. He wrote that anything having the number 5 in it was the most beautiful and the most sound.

In her opinion, he had lost his flipping mind.

Gehn had the writing materials, but needed a power source for his books which was why he constructed the domes. So the books she had been seeing inside the domes were actual linking books. Gehn had succeeded in linking to other Ages.

He described the first Age he linked to as a desolate and harsh world. By studying it, he hoped to eventually be able to write a world for him to escape to permanently. He had an office built in that desolate Age, which Melody had decided to call the Office Age. The domes linked each island of Riven to his office in the Office Age.

She had skipped ahead several pages until she found a place where he talked about a group of rebels that called themselves The Black Moiety. Did Mr. Gorgeous belong to the group of rebels?

Under Catherine's leadership, they had become braver. Catherine had obviously been working to undermine Gehn's rule. The rebels used terror tactics and intimidation to get villagers to join them. They used the frogs on Riven to make their paralyzing darts, like the dart hot-man had used on the guard when she had first arrived.

The next entry mentioned that Gehn had gotten hold of a rebel knife and had examined it. He'd been amazed to discover that it was made from a substance unlike anything found on Riven. The knife had been found on the south side of the village where several people had gone missing. The rebels no longer seemed to fear that their hideout would be discovered. Was that what she had seen in the secret tunnels under the prison? The entrance to the rebel's hideout? Of course Gehn wouldn't have thought to look under the prison for it. It was a genius plan to avoid being caught.

Melody read about Catherine being captured, but she refused to tell the whereabouts of the rebels. She spoke in her native tongue whenever he questioned her and soon refused to speak to him at all. Gehn expected Atrus to come rescue Catherine and was waiting for him.

The next thing of interest was Gehn's realizing that the break-up of Riven had stopped. He realized quickly that Atrus must have been repairing the damage. Gehn had been experimenting with the water of Riven, but he abandoned it to focus on his books.

The last entry was dated that day. He wrote about a rebel being captured and searched. A crystal had been found on him that powered the linking books. It was a small and portable power source that Gehn had been thrilled to find. He believes the crystals to be D'ni in origin and that Catherine had brought them with her when she had returned to Riven, but she refused to answer him when he questioned her.

Melody gulped at the mention of several villagers and guards reporting sightings of a mysterious young woman. Gehn had guessed that she had been sent by Atrus to rescue Catherine. Gehn wanted her apprehended and brought to him to speak to her.

A part that made the hair on the back of her neck raise was when Gehn had written about an assistant of his that he had caught looking through the journal. The man had been punished.

Melody shivered. She didn't want to know how.

The one thing she had found that was useful was the combination to the domes. It was in D'ni numbers, but from the notes she had taken in the school house Melody was sure she could decipher the numbers later. Before she went to Gehn's Office Age she needed to find Catherine. At least Gehn hadn't said anything about her being fed to his pets, which she had learned were called wharks. Melody could only hope that Catherine was too valuable a bargaining chip for Gehn to kill.

The cable car stopped at a new island. From the car platform, she went up a flight of stairs to a walkway over a strange pond filled with orange and green and blue water. The pond was framed with whark tusks.

The walkway ended at an elevator that took her up to a pedestal that had a map of the five islands of Riven. Because of this, Melody dubbed the island Map Island.

The rotating dome on each island was marked. She drew a rough draft of it in her notebook.

Melody discovered that the elevator went farther down. It led down to a large room that looked like an aquarium. One wall was made entirely of glass. She was looking inside the pond. Despite the murky multi-colored surface, the water was surprisingly clear. Up a few steps to a platform was a chair. As soon as she sat in it, a metal arm with a screen lowered in front of her. There were several buttons. She tried each of them.

The first one overlooked the village. The second turned on the scope in the lagoon. It was pointed at the wooden eyeball floating in the water. The rock behind it looked like a regular fish.

Her mind went back to the secret room under the prison. All of the stones with different animals drawn on them. Each of the wooden eyeballs was associated with an animal and a number.

That was it! That was the combination to the rebel's hideout! She just had to push down the stones in the order of the animal/number wooden eyeballs that she had seen. She noted that the ball in Ghen's office was associated with a fish.

The third button showed a room she hadn't been in yet. It had a desk, a chair, a bed, shelves with dishes and blankets and a balcony with bars around it. A figure walked in front of the viewer, a beautiful woman with long dark hair.

Catherine! She was alive! But where was she?

The other buttons showed nothing so Melody pulled a lever she assumed would raise the viewer to let her out.

She was wrong.

A horn sounded. She jumped. What had she just done?

She had her answer moments later.

A guttural roar made her freeze as a large dark shape swam slowly in front of the glass. Melody had to cover her mouth the keep from screaming. She had called a whark! It was massive with long ugly tusks curving out of it's mouth. It swam slowly back on forth in front of the glass. It seemed to be watching her.

That was enough for her. Melody slipped out of the chair and ran from the room, taking the elevator back up to the walkway. It wasn't just Jaws. It was Jaw's smarter, bigger and uglier older brother. The thought of the poor villagers and rebels that had been fed to that thing made her want to throw-up. The people must be terrified. It was no wonder that Atrus had trapped Gehn, to keep him from destroying any other worlds. It was terrible that the people of Riven had suffered because of it. She had to get the trap book back. It was the only way to make sure that Gehn would not hurt anyone else.

Melody reached Village Island just as the sun was going down. She was exhausted. It had been the longest day of her life. She pushed away the thought of where she was going to sleep. She would worry about it later. Now she had to get to the rebels and see if they could be persuaded to give back the trap book. Maybe they knew where Catherine's prison was.

The cell door was still open. Honestly, what was wrong with the guards? If there were no prisoners they didn't bother to close the doors? It made no sense.

She made her way under the prison to the secret room with the marker stones. By studying her notebook, she figured out the order : fish, beetle, frog, seal-thing, and whark.

As soon as she pushed down the whark marker stone, the heavy stone door rolled away to reveal a book that had been stuck in a niche in the wall.

No wonder Gehn couldn't find the rebel's hideout. It was in another Age! Had Catherine written it for them? She must have. Melody opened it and saw from the moving image that it worked. She made out what seemed to be a giant tree with lights inside it. It was so reminiscent of Peter Pan that she wouldn't have been surprised to see Tinker Bell fly up and wink at her.

Melody didn't hesitate as she linked to the rebel Age.

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**So now Melody is finally in the rebel Age. I believe this is about the middle of the second game.**

**As for why I did not write out Gehn's journal, honestly have you tried reading that man's handwriting? It's worse then a doctor's note. Plus I figured that since I included all of Atrus' journals, and will include others, that it was okay to skip Gehn's. I still love him dearly.**

**Melody : Whoa whoa! What do you mean you love Gehn dearly? He's freakin' evil incarnate!**

**Me : I know. That's why I love him dearly. He's an awesome villain.**

**Melody : *shakes head* And this is the woman who controls my fate. I am terrified...**


	14. Chapter 14

**Rebel Age! I love this Age and I wish we could have explored it more thoroughly in the game.**

**On another note : the number of views on the chapters are steadily rising so I know people are reading this story but no one is reviewing. So I am going to ask again, pretty pretty please, will you take a few seconds to review? You have no idea what a simple review does for my self-esteem.**

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When she opened her eyes, she realized she was in some kind of grotto. Through the natural stone arches she could see a lake with the massive tree on the other side. Melody watched for several moments, entranced by the twinkling lights within it's branches. It seemed almost magical.

It was nearly dark. Melody's eyes were heavy, but she knew she couldn't rest yet. She had to figure out how to get to the tree and convince the rebels she was a friend. She hoped someone spoke English or things were going to get sticky.

To her left, she had to squint to make out a wooden statue erected in an alcove in the rock wall. From the symbol on it's chest, she guessed it was supposed to represent Gehn. She couldn't help but giggle at the twenty or so knives stuck into it. No god-like worship for Gehn around these parts.

Several footsteps made her turn and look up. Two guys were coming her way, talking quietly among themselves. There were wearing the same kind of clothes as Mr. Gorgeous. Both had dark hair, but while one wore his in a pony tail, the other had a buzz-cut. Pony-tail had a mask in his hand.

They saw her about the same time she saw them. They exclaimed and began to speak rapidly in another language.

Melody threw up her hands and tried to look non-threatening. "Whoa there guys. I'm not here to make trouble. I'm trying to free Catherine..."

At the mention of Catherine's name, their eyes went wide and they came at her.

Melody stepped back and shrieked as Buzz-cut grabbed her and Pony-tail threw a hood over her head. She continued her muffled screams as hands lifted her feet and arms and carried her away. They ignored her struggles. She was handed down into what felt like a boat.

This was just perfect. This was the second time she had entered an Age and been captured within moments. What were these guys planning to do to her? Take her to their leader? Who knew what these people's religion was like. Her imagination tortured her with images of Mayan-like sacrifices.

And if they didn't kill her, what would they do to her? She was a young woman alone in a world not her own with no one to protect her. What if what they had in mind was worse than death?

Melody shook her head furiously. Her situation was bad enough without adding any other 'happy' thoughts to her terror. The sack made it difficult to breathe, but when she tried to take it off one of the men grabbed her hands and held her down.

"I can't breathe!" she protested, but that outburst only succeeded in getting a hand clamped over her mouth. She struggled as the edges of her vision began to go dark. Her lungs burned for air.

She vaguely felt the boat bump against a dock. She was lifted out of the boat and carried a short distance. She heard shouts and the men put her down.

The sack was whipped off her head. Through bleary eyes she made out the shape of Mr. Gorgeous's face before everything went black.

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**ooooh what's this? Don't worry I'm not gonna leave you hanging. I should, but I won't. It would be too short a chappie then ;)**

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Melody groaned as she came to. She was lying on a bed. She would thank whoever was responsible for that at the earliest opportunity.

She rubbed her hands over her face. How long had she been out? Where exactly was she? And most pressing, did the place have food?

Opening her eyes, she realized she was inside a circular wooden room. The bed she was lying on had been carved out of the wall, as had the table, chair and fireplace that made up the rest of the room. The only door out of the room was, predictably, locked. A tiny window above the bed looked out over a small lake surrounded by cliffs. She was inside the giant tree she had seen before.

The door opened. Melody prepared for the worst, but relaxed when she realized only a young woman had entered. She had dark hair, dark eyes and was carrying a bowl of water and a cloth. She set it down and spoke to Melody in a kind voice, making gestures about washing her face.

Melody moved forward slowly and did as she was bid, washing her face and drying with the cloth. The woman left and came back moments later with a plate of food. Melody ate hungrily.

"Thank you," she said to the woman with a smile.

Her tone must have conveyed her meaning because the woman laughed. The sound of it was light and flutter-y, like how she imagined a butterfly would laugh. It had Melody laughing lightly in return.

"Melody," she said, pointing to herself, much like she had with Neera. "Mel-o-dee," she repeated and pointed to the woman.

"Nelah," the woman responded with a smile. "Nee-lah."

Nelah waited until Melody had finished eating, then left again only to return five minutes later followed by several other women carrying a tub of water. After an embarrassing almost-conversation which consisted of gestures and Melody blushing, the women convinced her to let them help her bathe. They washed her hair gently, running their fingers through it and making appreciative noises.

After the bath they produced clothing for her, a vivid red skirt and long sleeved top that looked Middle-Eastern. The top hit her just below her rib cage so there was more of her stomach exposed than she would have liked, but the women disappeared with her other clothes after making gestures of pulling a needle through cloth.

If this was how prisoners were treated maybe this wouldn't be so terrible after all. She dried her hair in front of the fireplace, then sat and waited.

Then she waited some more.

After what felt like an eternity, the door opened again. Melody was fully prepared to see Neelah coming back with her clothes. Her mouth dropped open when she turned and saw Mr. Gorgeous himself standing there. He was frowning, but since she hadn't seen any other expression from him she suspected that was his normal state.

After several moments of uncomfortable silence, Melody cleared her throat.

"I imagine I have you to thank for the bed, the food, the bath and the clothes," she said, coloring a bit. "Thank you for your consideration." She tried to add a smile to convey her message.

He folded his arms over his chest.

"So..." Melody said, dragging out the word. "You're the leader of the rebels. I can't say I'm surprised. You look like a man more used to giving orders than following them."

He continued to stare at her.

"I really wish you could understand me. Isn't there anyone here who speaks English?"

Nothing.

Melody sighed. "This isn't going to be easy. Look, I need you to let me go," she said, gesturing to herself and the door. "I also need the book that you took from me before," she made a motion of opening a book. "I need it to rescue Catherine."

He frowned. "Catherine?"

Melody had to fight to keep from fanning herself. Even his voice was gorgeous. She closed her eyes. "Aw man, I really wish you could understand me. I'd ask you to tell me a really long story. Yes," she nodded. "I'm going to rescue Catherine and capture Gehn."

His frown grew darker at the name.

"Yes," she nodded. "Very bad man. Catherine's husband Atrus sent me to trap Gehn in the book," she made the book gesture again. "And free Catherine," she closed her hands, then opened them like she was releasing a bird.

He stared at her for a few moments, his eyes searching hers. Finally, he turned and left the room.

Melody sank to the bed with a sigh. That could have gone better. If only she had asked Atrus to pack her a Rivenese language book. She shouldn't have brought up Gehn. Now they probably thought she was working for him.

She stared out the window and watched until the sun faded and the shadows lengthened once again. Another whole day gone. How much time did she have left before Riven collapsed with Catherine on it?

If the rebels couldn't be reasoned with, she'd have to find a way to escape. She had to keep her promise to Atrus, no matter what.

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**Now**** I will leave you hanging. Ta-ta til next time!**

**Please review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**See! I didn't leave you hanging for long! I love all of you viewers who don't let me know who you are by reviewing! Maybe you are all ghosts... How awesome would that be?! hehe**

**Enjoy this chappie. It's the last for today. I might upload more tomorrow... or it might be a few days...**

**Please please PLEASE review!**

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Melody woke with a start in the middle of the night to the sound of the door opening slowly. She kept her eyes shut as light from a candle flickered over her face. Male voices spoke in hushed tones.

She had to fight to keep from shaking. What were two guys sneaking in her room after dark for? Actually she could guess what for, but tried to think of something else. Maybe they were just checking to make sure she was still there. Maybe if she was quiet, they'd go away.

The feeling of a hand skimming over her hair proved that theory wrong. Melody jerked upright and prepared to scream.

A hand was clamped over her mouth. She recognized the hand. It was none other than Pony-tail, and Buzz-cut was right behind him. Pony-tail made non-threatening shushing noises, like he was trying to tell her they meant no harm.

Buzz-cut was speaking sharply, most likely trying to get Pony-tail to leave.

Pony-tail ignored him. He smiled at Melody, setting the candle down on the chair beside the bed. He took a fistful of her hair gently and held it in front of her, all the while speaking kindly to her.

He removed his hand from her mouth to run his fingers through her hair. He smiled and made appreciative noises.

Melody blinked, her mouth dropping open slightly in shock. That was what this was about? Her hair? Evidently they had never seen red hair before from the way the guy was petting it like a cat.

He released her hair and took her gently by the wrists, urging her to her feet. When he began pulling her toward the door she stopped in her tracks.

Pony-tail tugged lightly on her arm, making gestures about her coming with him.

"No," Melody said, shaking her head.

Buzz-cut began to speak rapidly in a chastising tone. Evidently this hadn't been his idea and he wanted to leave.

Pony-tail frowned and tugged harder.

Melody dug in her heels. "I'm not going anywhere with you," she said firmly, shaking her head to emphasize her point.

Her now irritated captor looked to be seriously contemplating tossing her over his shoulder when another voice called out a sharp command. Pony-tail immediately released her.

Mr. Gorgeous came stomping into the room, looking seriously ticked. He stood in front of Melody and faced Pony-tail with folded arms.

The following exchange seemed to consist of Pony-tail explaining whatever he had been planning to do and defending himself over it. Buzz-cut had disappeared. Mr. Gorgeous listened patiently, then spoke in quiet but firm words and gestured toward the door. Pony-tail gave Melody one last look, then reluctantly turned and left.

Melody blew out the breath she had been holding. "Thanks for the rescue," she said, then peered at him questioningly. "You were rescuing me... right?" she shook her head. "You know what? I'm not even going to question it. After all the things I have been through in the past few weeks, I'm just happy to still be breathing. I wonder where he was trying to take me."

"To his chamber."

Melody had to fight not to fall over from shock. "You... you speak English?! You could understand me this whole time?!" a wave of embarrassment washed over her, leaving her blushing to the roots of her hair. "Why didn't you say something before?! Why did you let me make a fool out of myself?!"

He shrugged. "I had nothing to say before. And listening to you babble was very amusing."

It was safe to say that she had never felt more stupid in her entire life than at that moment. She cleared her suddenly dry throat. "Alright, so we have established that I am an idiot. Wonderful. Before I continue on this path of proving how pathetic I am I have a question : what did you mean when you said he was taking me to his chamber? What's the point of that? If he was going to try anything, why wouldn't he have just gotten it over with?"

"Because in our society, by taking a woman to your chamber you declare she is your wife," his gaze moved over her hair. "Kale was very drawn to your hair. It is an unusual shade."

"His wife!" Melody squeaked and gulped. "I repeat : thanks for the rescue."

He waved aside her thanks. "We have no time for such foolishness," he handed her a piece of folded paper. "Read this."

Melody unfolded it and realized it was some kind of note. As she read it, she gasped:

_I write this quickly from my prison. Trace will return your book. After questioning him, I've concluded that it was written by Atrus for a very specific purpose. Gehn will desire to use it. If you find my prison, you will still need the combination to release me. Gehn keeps it in his office. I think I have discovered a way to signal Atrus, but don't signal him before I am released._

_Catherine_

"Catherine!" Melody exclaimed. "She's alright!" she looked up at Mr. Gorgeous. "Trace? Is that your name?"

In answer, he handed her the prison book.

For the first time since she had come to Riven, Melody felt a sense of accomplishment. She hugged the prison book to her. "Thank you. Now I have to find Catherine's prison and capture Gehn. If only I could find a way to his office Age."

"This will take you back to Riven," Trace told her, laying a linking book on the table. "Once you get there, you must open the domes. They contain linking books to Gehn's office Age.."

"What? Right now?" Melody asked as he looked at her expectantly.

"Now that you have the prison book there is no time to waste," Trace told her. "You must go, quickly. I shall follow behind you and attempt to rescue as many of the villagers as I can."

Melody realized he was right. There was no time to lose. She had to rescue Catherine and capture Gehn before the Age collapsed completely.

She looked up at Trace. "Just in case I don't get to see you again, my name is Melody."

He nodded curtly as she placed her hand on the page and linked back to Riven.

/

When she opened her eyes Melody saw she had returned to the secret room under the prison. Now that she had the prison book, she could use to combination she had found in Gehn's journal to unlock the book dome. The nearest one was in the jungle beyond the village.

Melody made her way carefully out of the prison, past the village and through the jungle. The fact that she saw no people or guards made her a little uneasy. Had Gehn told them to back off in order for her to come to him? Was she walking into a trap?

Even if she was, she had no choice. The only way to capture Gehn would be to get him to use the book and the only way to do that would be to meet him face to face and make him believe that she had an actual linking book to D'ni.

The dome was still open when she approached it, which surprised her. Either the people had been ordered to stay away from the domes or Gehn had left them open intentionally, lending more evidence toward her trap theory.

She'd have to risk it.

Melody consulted her notebook and slid the counters to the combination from the journal: 9, 18, 14, 11, 6.

The top of the dome rotated and closed over her while the glass that surrounded the book rotated and revealed the book. When everything stopped Melody was inside the dome with no way out but to use the book. She watched the fly-by of Gehn's office Age. It looked bleak and scorched, mostly rock with little water and a red sky. Very much how she would have imagined a nightmare world would look.

The only sign of human presence was a building that had been constructed on one of the larger rocks. It was circular and had a domed roof.

This was it...

She was finally going to meet Gehn face to face...

Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Melody pressed her hand against the page...

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**For those of you who thought we were going to meet Gehn this chapter : Ha! Fooled you!**

**Seriously I am sorry. I wanted to include the meeting in this chapter, but it would have made the chapter too long. I will upload more either tomorrow or Wednesday.**

**Happy Holidays everyone!**


	16. Chapter 16

This was beyond ridiculous.

Melody folded her arms and frowned darkly. This was the third time she had entered an Age and had been immediately captured. The spot where she had linked to had been surrounded by gold bars, making a very narrow cage. Melody drummed her fingers on her arm in annoyance. Things were getting out of hand. She found herself missing the Ages on Myst Island. Sure they'd been deserted and lonely. At least she could link in and out of the Ages without something bad happening.

She looked around the room beyond the bars.

There was a table right in front of her with a light over it. On the table was a goblet, a plate with a fork and some bones, an inkwell, a blank book and a kettle. A large stove looking thing with a fire underneath was on the other side of the room beside a large glass sphere that looked like it contained water. A desk had several scientific tools scattered on it. A ladder led downward into a hole in the floor.

That was all she discovered before the door leading outside opened, blowing a gust of dry wind at her.

A tall, lean grey-haired man in fine robes entered the room. He caught sight of her and smiled.

"I apologize for the cage," he said kindly. "I'm afraid this situation has often required of me a more primitive code of conduct than I might otherwise have chosen."

Melody watched him as he approached the cage. "You're Gehn," she stated.

His smile wavered. "I see you've heard of me. Indeed," he nodded. "I suspect you have acquired some false information of who I am now. Not that my son would have lied to you about me," he said quickly. "No, not Atrus. It's just that I'm sure he still believes me to be the depraved father I once was. I even tried to kill him once," he said, shaking his head shamefully. "If I had accomplished that, who knows what I would have become."

Melody eyed him. He wasn't how she had expected Gehn to be. He seemed old and remorseful, completely at odds with the man she had seen glimpses of on Riven. "So, you're not upset at all that Atrus trapped you here for thirty years?" she asked suspiciously.

"No sentence could be too harsh for the man I was," he insisted, he lifted his head and smiled gently. "But I have changed. To be sure, the deeds of my past can never be completely atoned for, but my mission was an honorable one." He trailed off and stared at her for so long she began to shift uncomfortably. "I'm sorry," he told her finally, shaking his head. "This is all very awkward. Something about the curious look in your eyes, the way you cock your head when you are listening, even the way you speak all remind me of my beloved wife Keta."

Melody suppressed the urge to arch an eyebrow. Keta? So that had been his wife? Was he serious or was he trying to butter her up?

When she didn't respond, he sighed. "It's been a long time since I have tried to persuade anyone of my intentions. Most of the people have already made their minds up about me, one way or another. I myself do not trust the words of most men, so I do not expect you to believe me. In the end though," he said with a smile, "you may discover that I have more than mere words to offer." He turned and moved to look out the window. "Atrus' choice of punishment has been hard on the people of Riven. Many have suffered because of it."

Melody had to bite her tongue to keep from blurting that he was the reason for most of the suffering.

"Did Atrus tell you of the danger the 5th Age is in?" Gehn asked her.

Melody nodded slowly. "He told me that the Age is going to collapse."

"According to my most recent measurements," Gehn told her, turning back to face her. "The 5th Age has entered it's final days. Unless the villagers can be relocated soon, everyone will perish. It has taken me a long time to do it, but it appears as though I will finally be able to make some amends to my past sins."

Melody frowned slightly in thought. He certainly sounded sincere. Had Gehn really changed? But what about everything she had seen in Riven? All of the god-like worship and feeding the villagers to his monsters? And what about Catherine?

As if he was reading her mind, Gehn said. "I'm afraid I have had some trouble with Catherine."

Melody tensed. "Where is she?"

Gehn looked grave. "In any society there will always be a small percentage of the population with rebellious tendencies. Before Catherine appeared the Moiety had been relatively harmless. She has become some sort of religious savior to them. As far as I can tell she has come to believe this herself. So..." he shook his head sadly. "I had to separate her from her people. The actions of Catherine and the Moiety have put not only her life at risk, but my own as well." He looked at her sharply. "Therefore I must ask you to refrain from any attempts to free her."

"Atrus wants his wife back," Melody told him. "Surely you can understand that."

Gehn nodded. "I'm sure Atrus desires it with all his heart. But he is completely unaware of her recent state. Which brings me to the point of all this," he said in a sudden brisk tone. "The linking book you brought with you. May I?" he asked, reaching for the book.

Melody hesitated only a moment before handing it to him. He opened it. The picture of D'ni brought excitement to his eyes. But his excitement slowly turned to a frown.

Melody's heart was in her throat. Did he realize it was a trap? Could he tell it wasn't a real linking book?

Gehn closed the book and looked back at her thoughtfully. Then he smiled. "Perhaps it would be best if you went through first," he said, holding the book open to her.

Melody eyed the moving picture of D'ni, trying not to betray her panic. This was going all wrong. She wasn't supposed to use to trap book, Gehn was. He was suspicious. What if after she entered he realized it was a trap book and left her in there forever? What hope did she have that he would follow her and free her by trapping himself? And she had hoped to discover where Catherine was before capturing Gehn.

"I'd like to see Catherine first," she requested, hoping she sounded as confident as she hoped. "So I can tell Atrus that I have seen with my own eyes that she is not hurt."

Gehn eyed her for a moment, then closed the book and set it aside. "Of course. That is reasonable," he turned and went to his desk. He came back with a book. "This will take you to Prison Island. It is one of the Islands of Riven, but has drifted a small distance away over time. Once you have spoken to Catherine and satisfied your curiosity, return here." He paused a moment, as if unsure about something. "Please believe there is nothing I want more than for a chance to resolve things between Atrus and myself, but unless you are willing to demonstrate to me that your intentions are honorable I cannot risk it. Use the horn to signal me once you have decided to use to book."

After he left, Melody released the breath she had been holding. Had she convinced him, or was he just messing with her? He had agreed to let her see Catherine so easily she wondered if he was setting her up. She'd have to be very careful what she said to Catherine.

Opening the book, she watched the fly-over of an island that looked like it was made from the trunk of a massive tree. She felt a surge of excitement. She was finally going to meet her.

Atrus' wife.

Melody had longed to meet the woman whom Atrus loved so much.

Placing her hand on the page, she linked to Prison Island.

The spot she linked to was inside the book dome on the island. A button next to the book opened the dome and recovered the book. At least she had finally linked to a place without being captured.

Looking out over the water that surrounded the small island, Melody could see the other islands of Riven a short distance away. She wondered why Prison Island had drifted so far from the others.

A walkway lead up and into the trunk. At the end of a short hall was an elevator with bars around one side. Melody pulled the handle and the elevator rose.

It stopped at a small room that Melody recognized as the room she had seen in the viewer in the whark tank.

Catherine must have heard the elevator, because she entered from the enclosed balcony moments later.

Her eyes went wide with shock when she spotted Melody. "You made it!" she exclaimed in surprise. "How did you get past Gehn?"

Melody stared at Catherine with wide eyes. "He... I asked to see you and he let me come."

Catherine looked puzzled, then concerned. "He must really believe I've gone mad..." she suddenly looked at Melody sharply. "I know what he's doing," her eyes scanned the room. "He's watching you, waiting for you to make a mistake. He's hoping you'll lead him back to D'ni. No matter what he's told you, if Gehn gets to D'ni he'll kill Atrus."

Melody started to agree with her, but remembered that Gehn might be watching. "I am Melody," she said instead in a normal tone. "Atrus sent me here to rescue you," she dropped her voice lower. "How do I get you out of here?"

Catherine dropped her voice as well. "I know how to signal Atrus, but it will take both of us. You'll have to trap Gehn before you can get the combination. Be careful."

When Melody nodded her understanding Catherine pulled back and said in an impatient voice. "Are you going to help me or not?"

Melody put on her best confused face. "I... I'm not sure Catherine. You seem... different than Atrus described you..."

Catherine turned away sharply. "Go then. If you won't help me, I have nothing more to say."

The two woman shared a meaningful look as Melody rode the elevator back down. As she made her way back to the linking book, a plan formed in her mind. She knew what she had to do.

It was incredibly risky and there were a thousand ways it could fail, but it was the only thing she could do. The lives of many people depended on her plan working.

Nothing like a little pressure, right?

Melody linked back inside the cage and pulled the lever for the horn. The door opened and Gehn smiled when he saw her. "I'm relieved you have returned. I thought perhaps you had decided against it."

Melody nodded. "You're right. Catherine has become disturbed. Atrus is going to be heartbroken, but maybe if he could reunite with you it will ease some of his pain."

Gehn inclined his head with a satisfied smile. Opening the prison book, he held it out to her. "Here. I shall follow you directly.

This was it. The moment of truth.

Melody forced herself to look unconcerned as she linked into the prison book.

At first everything was dark. Moments later an image of Gehn appeared before her. He was looking down at her from outside the book. It felt so strange, like she was watching a TV in a pitch black room. Was this the view that Sirrus and Achenar had from their prisons? No wonder they had been so desperate to escape.

Gehn looked unsure, like he sensed that something was wrong. She wasn't sure if he could see her, so she smiled and motioned him to come.

He seemed to make a decision and moved to the side. Melody's eyes widened when he returned with some type of gun. So he had been lying when he'd claimed that he wanted to make amends with Atrus! He really wanted to kill him, his own son, in cold blood! Melody shook her head. This was some family Atrus had. A tyrannical father with delusions of godhood and two ambitious murderous sons.

After a few more tense moments of indecision, Gehn finally placed his hand on the page. Melody felt a rush of air as she was propelled forward and out of the book.

When she opened her eyes she was outside the cage. The book lay on the floor. She picked it up and opened it carefully.

Gehn glared up at her, rage turning his face into something twisted and evil.

Melody shut the book with a snap. She really didn't want to be around if he ever got loose.

The sound of someone linking into the room made her squeak in alarm. What if it was one of Gehn's followers? How was she going to keep him from finding out that Gehn was gone?

A surge of relief washed over her as she recognized the figure. "Trace! What are you doing here?!"

"I came in case you needed help," he replied. "Gehn is a very cruel man. I was concerned that he might have captured you along with Catherine."

"Your timing couldn't be better," she said. "A few seconds earlier and you would have blown the whole thing!" she opened the book and showed him Gehn trapped inside.

He looked stunned. "I can't believe you actually accomplished it."

Melody snorted and shut the book. "Contrary to what you may think, I can take care of myself."

A few minutes of searching and she found the lever that lowered the bars of the cage. "Catherine said that Gehn kept the combination to her prison around here somewhere," she told him. "We have to find it and free Catherine quickly before Gehn's followers realize that he is gone."

Trace agreed and began to search the room. Melody climbed down the ladder she had seen before. It turned out that it led to Gehn's bedroom.

Two portraits hung on the wall next to the ladder. One was inscribed 'Keta'. Gehn's wife and Atrus' mother. Melody studied the kind and pretty face. She wondered what happened to the young woman. The second portrait was of a stern older man with pale irises. It was inscribed 'Atrus'. Most likely Gehn's father, whom the Atrus she knew had been named after. It wasn't that strange to be named after your grandfather.

A bed had been carved into the rock wall. The expensive looking blanket had Gehn's symbol on it, the five pen-tips arranged to look like a star. On a table next to the bed, Melody found another journal and a piece of paper with several D'ni number printed on it : 4, 4, 1, 1.

The journal was written in D'ni so she didn't bother with it. As she turned to leave, she noticed an imager like the one she had seen at the school. Curious, she turned the crank.

Keta's face appeared. She was laughing lightly, like she was embarrassed about something.

"I don't know what to say," she said, laughing again.

"Say anything," Gehn's voice encouraged lovingly.

The young woman laughed lightly once more before staring into the viewer. "I love you." she said tenderly. "I love you."

Melody didn't realize she was crying until Trace laid a hand on her shoulder. "Catherine told me that Keta died not long after Atrus was born," he told her. "Other than his father, his wife was the only person Gehn respected and loved more than anything else."

"It's not that I feel sorry for him," Melody said, wiping her tears away. "It's just that... if he hadn't lost her... maybe he wouldn't have become so cruel... maybe it was her loss that made him the way he was..."

Trace led her gently back toward the ladder. "Who can know for sure? Come. Now that we have the combination we must hurry."

* * *

**So we met and dealt with Gehn in one chapter. :D Next chapter : the final minutes of Riven. I will try to keep to a regular schedule of uploading from now on.**

**Don't forget to review pretty please.**


	17. Chapter 17

**So here it is, the last part of Riven. Next time we will start heading towards Exile. :)**

**Forgot the legal stuff last time, so just pretend I did it twice this time : I do not own Myst or any of the characters. All I own is Melody and Trace.**

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Once the reached Prison Island, they wasted no time in setting Catherine free. At the barred elevator there was a panel with four small levers. Pulling each of them according to the paper Melody had found in Gehn's bedchamber (4, 4, 1, 1) caused the bars to lower. They rode the elevator up to Catherine's prison.

She was waiting for them. As soon as the elevator stopped, she darted inside and pulled the lever to descend. "We have to move quickly," she told them. "Gehn's men may already know what's happening. Can I see the book?"

Melody handed Catherine the prison book. Catherine opened it cautiously and peered inside. Her eyes widened and she smiled. "You did it!" she exclaimed breathlessly. "We're all free! You captured Gehn!"

"There are still his followers," Trace pointed out. "I don't know what they'll do once they realize he is gone."

"Throw a party?" Melody suggested.

Trace frowned. "This is no time for jokes."

Catherine shook her head. "What you have to understand Melody is that the villagers have lived under Gehn's rule for so long that, even though they were oppressed, at least with him they knew what to expect. This is the first time in over thirty years that they will be without a leader."

"Why can't they lead themselves?" Melody asked. "I'm sure they would never have fed each other to those ugly monsters."

"I doubt they will remember how to govern themselves. It will take time to adjust. Time that they will not have if they remain on Riven."

"We have to get the villagers to safety," Trace said as the elevator came to a stop.

Catherine agreed. "I'll go with you," she said and turned back to Melody. "Go back to the temple and reopen the fissure. I know it's risky, but it's the only way to signal Atrus."

Melody shook her head. "No way. I promised Atrus I would get you out of here. I'll go with Trace, you open the fissure."

"The people would listen to me before you," Catherine pointed out. "I'm a sort of religious figure to them, a savior. I have to go."

Melody reluctantly agreed to the plan. "Just promise me you'll make it back in time."

"I'll try, but don't wait for me."

Before they linked out, Melody took Catherine's hand. "I'm glad I got to meet you."

Catherine smiled and clasped Melody's hand between her own. "I am glad to have met you as well. I'm sure you have much to tell me, and I can't wait to hear it all. We shall meet again."

Melody wished she could be as confident. She watched Catherine link away after Trace and hoped that it wouldn't be the last time she saw Atrus' wife.

Thankfully Gehn had linking books to all of the islands in his office Age. Melody found the one to Dome Island and linked there. She climbed the stairs and raced through the temple toward the large telescope.

Despite what Catherine had said, she waited.

She waited some more.

After fifteen minutes she knew she couldn't wait any longer. Going to the control panel, she lowered the telescope as far as it would go.

About half an inch from the metal platform, the gears ground to a halt. She had been about to freak out before she realized there was a rock lodged in the machinery. After raising the telescope slightly, she used a metal rod nearby to dislodge the stone. Looking around one last time, she bit her lip and lowered the telescope.

The metal cover over the Star Fissure held momentarily, then broke under the weight of the massive telescope. Melody jumped back to avoid falling in as the telescope and platform were sucked in. Melody stared in shock.

The Star Fissure was a black hole!

She moved farther back as everything nearby : grass, trees, rocks, the metal staircase were all sucked inside. The wind began to blow fiercely and the sky turned dark. The land became a burnt orange color. Small earthquakes began to make the ground tremble under her feet.

Melody stared open-mouthed at the chaos around her. What had she done?!

Looking toward the cage she had appeared in when she had first arrived in Riven, Melody saw Atrus link in. He saw her and raced over. "There isn't much time," he said urgently. "Where's Catherine? Where's the book?"

She handed him the prison book. "Gehn is inside," she told him.

"And Catherine?"

Melody looked into his worried face and her heart sank. "I... don't know..."

"Atrus!" a familiar voice cried.

Melody and Atrus looked up to see a figure running toward them. Husband and wife caught each other in a desperate embrace. Tears stung Melody's eyes as relief flooded her.

Catherine turned to her and smiled. "The villagers are safely in the Rebel Age."

Melody thought of the little girl Neera and smiled. "I'm glad everyone is safe. And Trace?"

Catherine nodded. "He is seeing everyone settled in the Rebel Age."

"Come," Atrus said, holding up the linking book to D'ni. "We must hurry. Riven is breaking apart."

Catherine linked first. Atrus held the book out to Melody. "Go. I shall follow you."

Melody took one last look at Riven, then placed her hand on the page...

Melody woke up slowly and winced. It had been three days since they had returned from Riven and her limbs were still sore.

Before she could get him talking about a way home for her, Atrus and Catherine had insisted that they needed to check on everyone in the Rebel Age. They had told her it would take them a few days.

She sighed and rolled from the bed, groaning at the pain. It was the day they had planned to return. Melody and Atrus had a lot to talk about.

Melody looked down at the clothing she had been given in the Rebel Age. She hadn't had time to get her old clothes back. Maybe Catherine would grab them for her. She didn't want the people back home asking questions. If she ever told another living soul what had happened to her over the previous weeks she would likely find herself tossed into a psych ward. Maybe she'd keep the clothing. It looked pretty cool. Maybe she'd use it for the next costume party she was invited to.

Hard on the heels of that thought came the reminder that she didn't have to worry about being invited anywhere. She had no friends, no family and soon would have no home.

She gave a brief thought to begging cousin Darwin for a little money to get her going, but quickly decided that she would rather live in a cardboard box than become indebted to him. Maybe Atrus and Catherine had something gold that they could give her. The price of gold had skyrocketed in recent years. Maybe that would give her just enough to get her feet on the ground.

Melody spent the morning slowly tidying up the castle-like rooms that Atrus lived in. She'd made quite a bit of progress when she heard footsteps. Looking up, she smiled at Atrus and Catherine.

"Melody," Catherine admonished playfully when she saw her cleaning. "You don't have to do that. Atrus will have it messy again before the day is out."

Melody shrugged. "I needed something to keep me busy."

"We would have taken you with us," Atrus told her, "but you seemed like you needed rest."

Melody nodded. "I did, thank you," she said and winced as she straightened.

Catherine immediately moved to help her. "I'm so sorry Melody. You have endured so much for us... total strangers..."

Melody waved aside her words. "It was nothing."

Catherine smiled. "And there are no words to express how thankful we are to you."

Atrus nodded. "You have accomplished far more than I could have hoped for. You gave me back my life," he smiled warmly at his wife.

"After my adventures in Myst, I felt like I knew you both so well," Melody said. "I had to do what I could to help you."

Catherine pulled her to the corner she had set up as an almost-comfortable seating area. "Now, you must tell me everything that happened. Atrus has only given me part of the story from his view. It is up to you to fill in the blanks. I want to know everything."

And so, Melody told her everything that had happened since her great-uncle had died. She told her about finding the book in the attic and accidently linking to Myst Island. She told about meeting Sirrus and Achenar and her adventures trying to free them. She told of the fear and loneliness she had felt in the devastated Ages. She told of seeing through the brother's schemes and meeting Atrus. Then she told them both of her adventures through Riven and the Rebel Age.

Atrus and Catherine had listened with rapt attention to everything she had told them. Melody felt terrible telling them of the things she had seen in the Ages that Sirrus and Achenar had ruined, but they insisted on knowing.

By the time she finished it was late at night. Catherine had tears in her eyes and Atrus looked gravely troubled.

Melody bowed her head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you about what your sons did..."

Catherine hugged her tightly. "I am not crying for my sons Melody," she said kindly. "I'm crying for you."

"Me?" Melody asked in surprised. "Why?"

"Because you have been through so many terribly hard things, most of which were caused by our family."

Atrus nodded. "You are a very brave and strong young woman Melody. It is an honor to have met you and we consider ourselves blessed to have your friendship when we have done nothing to earn it."

Melody shook her head. "I could go my whole life and never meet two more brilliant, brave, amazing, remarkable and caring people ever again. I'm the one who is blessed to have known you."

"Such a sweet heart," Catherine said warmly. "You are truly one of a kind Melody."

"Which makes what I'm about to say that much more difficult," Atrus said, swallowing hard. "Melody, I had hoped I would be able to get you home but I'm afraid that I... I can't..."

Time seemed to freeze around her. A chill ran down her spine to settle in her heart. "What...?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper "...do you mean...?"

Atrus looked even more guilt-ridden than before. "I am truly sorry Melody. The whole time we were in the Rebel Age I tried to think of a way to get you home. But I'm afraid I still don't even know how my linking book even got to your world in the first place. The only thing I can think is that the linking book I dropped into the Star Fissure when we trapped Gehn must have fallen into your world somehow, but with Riven destroyed I don't know how to access the Star Fissure. And even if I did, I don't know if it's safe for human travel. I would not risk your life to find out."

Melody lowered her head to stare at the floor. Tears gathered in her eyes. Her throat felt raw and she didn't trust herself to speak.

Catherine continued to hug her, running a soothing hand up and down her back. "I am sorry Melody... so terribly sorry..."

Atrus knelt to place a hand on her shoulders. "The last thing I wanted was to repay your generosity with disappointment. I am ashamed and heartbroken that I cannot help. Please, forgive me."

Melody shook her head. "You have nothing to be sorry for," she insisted, her voice cracking a bit. "I don't blame you. It's not your fault. I should have known better. How could you write a linking book to a place you have never been before?"

Atrus smiled. "You are understanding and kind. I promise you I shall not give up trying to find a safe way to send you home."

"Until that time," Catherine said, pulling back to look at her. "We would be honored to have you remain with us. I always wanted a daughter. You told us you had no family. You have one now with us."

Melody began to cry again, this time with tears of joy. "Thank you... you have no idea how much that means to me."

Atrus rose and approached his desk. He laid a hand on the massive book there. "The Age of Riven is closed forever, but it's people are free. I lost my sons and my father, but have gained a valuable friend," he smiled at Catherine and Melody. "In books and in life, the ending can never truly be written..."

* * *

**Alrighty! Riven is done! On to Exile next time!**

**See you round the linking book!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Here we are, at the beginning of a new story : Exile. This is my second fav game in the Myst series. I love the villain, the music, the Ages, the storyline that just pulls you in. I actually cried during this game. I'll let you know where.**

**Once again, I do not own Myst or the characters or the Ages.**

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_Three Years later..._

The young woman reached for her journal. She had gotten into the habit of keeping a journal from Catherine and Atrus. It felt good to write things out and even better to look back on what she had written in the past.

Sometimes it was hard to believe that it had been over three years since she had journeyed to Myst, met Atrus and (through a series of adventures) had rescued his wife Catherine. The two of them had become such an important part of her life it seemed as if she had always known them. She definitely couldn't imagine her life without them.

Melody opened her journal and flipped back to the beginning:

_Atrus gave me my very own journal. I told him it was highly unlikely that I would remember to write in it regularly, but he was very insistent that I try. He claims there is something therapeutic about keeping a journal. He must be right. The man keeps so many different journals and notebooks it's a wonder he can keep track of them all. _

_I suppose I should start with what happened right before Atrus gave me this journal. After a month of work we finally managed to break through the collapsed walls of the castle and into the rest of D'ni. Massive ruins mark the sight of a once amazing city. I couldn't imagine what Atrus must have thought._

_Atrus believes that there are more D'ni survivors out there in Ages that we haven't journeyed to yet. Catherine is supportive of Atrus wanting to track them down, but also made the point that we would need a place to live in the meantime. Atrus acknowledged her wishes and promised he would work on a solution. _

_Already I'm forgetting to write in this thing!_

_I was going to write dates to all my entries, but time passes differently here than in my old world. Atrus tried to explain it to me, but all he succeeded in doing was giving me a headache. The only person who will ever read this is me and I know when and where everything happened, so why bother with silly things like dates and times?_

_I went back to the Rebel Age for a visit with Catherine while Atrus wrote more linking books. I got to see Neera. She is even more adorable than I remembered. The moment she saw me, she smiled brightly and ran to me. I thought I was going to cry. Then she said my name and began to hum the song I sang to her that day. Then I really did start to cry._

_I sat with her for quite a while. Catherine translated so I was able to actually have a conversation with Neera and her mother Sasha. I learned that Neera's father was sacrificed by Gehn, fed to his monstrous pets. I cannot help but be relieved that such an evil man is trapped forever._

_I admit that I was nervous about seeing Trace again. We didn't exactly part on good terms in Riven. When I spoke to him (he was just as gorgeous and grumpy as ever) he only said that he was glad I wasn't dead and moved along. If he wasn't so gorgeous his indifference wouldn't bother me so much..._

_Oh and I ran into Pony-tail, whose real name is Kale. He acted embarrassed to see me again. But he didn't try to take me to his chamber this time. I tried not to giggle at his awkwardness, but it was difficult._

_Everyone seems to be adjusting very well in the Rebel Age, which Trace has named Tay. I am hoping to visit again soon._

_Success! Atrus has discovered D'ni survivors in an Age called Toledar. They have been surviving in that desert-type Age. It didn't take much convincing to get them to return to D'ni. Our group of three has grown into fifteen. We have already started the rebuilding of D'ni. The work is long and hard, with only about ten workers among us as the others are either too old or too young. But I don't mind. It gives me something to fill my days and I feel good helping restore a lost civilization. I'm just happy to be a help to Atrus and Catherine, who have been so kind to me. I'm truly happy for the first time since Great-uncle Stanley died. It feels so right here, like I'm where I belong. These people, the D'ni, who have been through so much turmoil and heartache, have become my people now. I am no longer alone._

_Maybe that is the true meaning of happiness: Knowing where you belong with people that you love._

_The work is going so well that Atrus was able to take some time to sketch plans for a home for him, Catherine and myself in an Age called Tomahna. I have linked to the site. It is a box canyon with a narrow opening. A river flows in the bottom of the canyon and out of the entrance in a gorgeous waterfall. The rugged beauty of the red cliffs is breathtaking. I can't wait to see how Atrus plans to construct a home there. Anything that Atrus designs is always as interesting as it is functional._

_I'm not sure how much time has passed since my last entry but it was enough for Atrus to discover more survivors, this time in an icy Age called Jelis. Sadly the climate there is not made for survival. We were only able to find about seven people and several were old and nearly dead. Despite our best efforts two of them have died and a third is not suspected to last the night._

_And if that weren't enough there was collapse in the northeast tunnel today. No one was killed but Pence and Colin were injured. No one wants to venture into the tunnels now, as they are still unstable._

_Restoring an ancient underground city without proper equipment is not what I would call a healthy career choice._

_Poor Atrus. He is so discouraged these days. Catherine has convinced him to work on the house in Tomahna for a few days. Maybe a break from D'ni is just what he needs to restore his confidence._

_Good news. Not only did the work in Tomahna do the trick but Trace appeared out of nowhere today and offered to help finish the building there, enabling Atrus to devote his full attention to D'ni. Since the collapse Atrus has not allowed Catherine and I into the restoration sight so we have come to Tomahna to help Trace. Which means I will be working rather closely with him for the next few months._

_Wonderful..._

_Catherine surprised me with some new clothing today. With all the work I've been doing I have lost some weight, so much that my clothes were bagging on me. I don't know how she knew my sizes, but everything fits perfectly._

_The material is a beautiful blue shimmering fabric with gold thread woven into it. It's a beautiful dress that laces up my back with long sleeves that are slightly puffy at the elbows. The flaring skirt is a bit on the short side so I will have to be careful about bending over. Boots that lace up to my knees complete the very medieval-looking outfit._

_Then Atrus surprised me also with a choker. The glowing stone in it looks like jade. It is encased in a protective covering. Atrus called it a fire marble and said the covering was to keep my skin from being burned. We use fire marbles to give our living areas warmth and light. I didn't know fire marbles could be this small and in so many different colors. I just assumed all fire marbles were red because all fire I've ever seen is red. _

_I'm learning so much. Atrus and Catherine laugh at my expressions of wonder and delight at every new thing I see, every new Age we journey to. Atrus says he hopes I will never lose my eagerness to learn and explore. Catherine says my appreciation for life, even the smallest things, is one of the things she loves most about me. They seem very concerned that I understand how much I mean to them. I suppose their sons are never very far from their thoughts. Maybe they are afraid that I will change and become like Sirrus and Achenar. _

_I often wonder what became of them. Were they killed when Atrus burned the two prison books? Or are they still alive, trapped forever within the empty nothingness between the link?_

_Catherine has taken my Rivenese clothes and says she will adjust them for me. Maybe I can talk her into teaching me how to sew._

_I know I normally don't update this soon, but something so wonderful has happened I had to write it down._

_Catherine is pregnant!_

_She told Atrus and me an hour ago. I've never seen Atrus speechless before. I wish I could have had a camera to capture the moment forever. Once it sunk in, he began to grin from ear to ear and got such a love-y dove-y look on his face that I cleared out fast._

_A new baby. It's so exciting. I wonder if it will be a boy or a girl. Catherine and I are going to talk baby names tomorrow. Whatever it turns out to be, no ordinary name will do. Not for a child this special._

_I wonder what Sirrus and Achenar would think if they knew that they were going to be big brothers._

_A monumental decision was made today._

_Catherine and I were just finishing cleaning up after dinner when Atrus said he needed to talk to us. He had been doing a lot of thinking. Ever since the collapse in the tunnels the work in D'ni has slowed quite a bit. With that and the brief history of the D'ni that we have been able to piece together from remnants we have found, Atrus is no longer convinced that restoring D'ni is the right thing to do. So much suffering happened there in its final years. Too many people had fallen prey to its hatred and greed. Evidently the ancient D'ni were not as kind as Atrus and the other survivors we have found. They were very arrogant and cruel, mistreating the Ages nearly as badly as Sirrus and Achenar had. _

_Atrus thinks it is best to put all of that bad history behind them and start fresh, with the ruins of D'ni to serve as a reminder of their past mistakes. _

_In line with this decision, he has decided to write a new home for the D'ni. An Age he is going to call Releeshan. Catherine is supportive as she always is and I do what I can to help._

_We need a safe place for Atrus to write. We will focus all of our attention on completing Tomahna. Trace has promised he will stay as long as we need him. This makes me very happy._

_It has happened. At nearly dawn this morning we welcomed Atrus and Catherine's daughter Yeesha into the world. She is such a tiny thing, but already cute as a button. Atrus was overcome with emotion._

_After making sure mother and child were resting comfortably, Trace and I moved out onto the observation deck that Atrus built between the two conservatories. I expected things to be awkward between us, but they weren't. Trace and I talked for hours, long after the sun rose. Tomahna is nearly finished. I am dreading the moment when Trace will return to Tay._

_Something strange is going on. The door to Atrus' study was left open last night. Atrus swears he didn't do it and Catherine hasn't been in there since before Yeesha was born. The scary thing is that this is the second time this has happened in four days. When Catherine claimed some of the plants in her conservatory had been moved I thought she might have been mistaken. Now I'm not so sure._

_How could an intruder be doing this? How did he find this place? How could he get in and out without us seeing him?_

_Atrus is getting more and more paranoid. Not only could this stranger threaten Catherine and the baby, but also Releeshan which Atrus has been working on tirelessly and has nearly finished. It is so important that he complete it that he has created some kind of security system for his office. He tried to explain to Catherine and I how it works but we have just decided not to go in his office when he is not there, which isn't often anyway. The next time Trace comes, I'll mention this to him and see what he thinks._

Melody reread that last entry with a frown. Closing her journal, she left her room and walked along the walkway to a platform. Pulling a handle there, a stairway that led down to the kitchen rotated and lifted to connect to the main walkway above. Melody made her way through Catherine's conservatory and into Atrus' study.

She smiled. He was there, his head bent over his desk, his brow furrowed in concentration. Tamon, a guild-master of the D'ni had asked his opinion on what parts of D'ni to salvage to use to construct their new homes in Releeshan. The Age had been completed a few days before and everyone had been successfully moved there. Now came the long process of settling and building. Atrus had become a sort of unofficial leader of the D'ni survivors. They wanted his input into every decision and valued his opinion highly.

Atrus looked up quickly when he finally noticed that he wasn't alone.

Melody held up her hands in surrender. "It's only me."

"Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"No," she assured him. "Atrus, calm down. Everything is fine."

He relaxed and sighed. "Do you also think I'm being paranoid?"

"Maybe, a little," Melody said with a smile. "At the same time, it is very worrying that someone could be sneaking around in here without us knowing."

"My journals were out of place today," her friend told her. "The thought of an unknown person coming here, reading my journals and having access to the Ages disturbs me greatly."

"They haven't done any damage so far," she said encouragingly. "Maybe we can take that as a sign that they mean no harm."

"Perhaps. But I shall not have any peace of mind until I know who they are and what they want," he said, looking over the letter he was writing. "Perhaps I should postpone my trip with Trace to Releeshan."

"No Atrus," Melody said gently, shaking her head. "You need this trip now more than ever. It will be fun. And fun is something you have been lacking this past year."

"I feel uneasy leaving you, Catherine and Yeesha here by yourselves."

Melody leaned against his desk. "Well that's what that is all about right?" she asked, gesturing to the letter. "You're writing Toman to ask him for some Nera padlocks. Nera is supposed to be harder than diamond right? We'll be fine."

Atrus sighed and gazed at the massive book behind glass across the room. "There is Releeshan as well. If anything were to happen to it, the lives of so many would be lost. People who are relying on me for protection."

Melody placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You're doing fine Atrus. Really, no one could have accomplished what you have these past few years. You once told me when I doubted myself that you had complete confidence in me. Well, now I'm saying the same thing to you. Catherine and I are here for you, and we both have faith in you. And now you have Yeesha too. I'm sure she will believe in you once she's old enough to understand the concept."

Atrus' face clouded. "Yeesha... I sometimes worry about how she will grow up, worry that I will make the same mistakes with her that I did with my sons. I still don't know what I did wrong in raising them."

"You did nothing wrong Atrus," Melody said firmly. "It wasn't your fault. They choose to destroy those Ages. They choose to betray you and Catherine. You will be a wonderful father to Yeesha," she gestured to Releeshan. "You wrote Releeshan as a second chance. Look at Yeesha as your second chance. Leave the past behind and start over."

Atrus looked up at her and smiled. "You are a treasure Melody. I am thankful every day that you came into our lives. I don't know where we'd be without you."

"The feeling is mutual," Melody said with a yawn. "I don't know how you manage to pull a late night and be up at dawn the next morning, but I don't think I'll ever be able to do it. Goodnight Atrus."

"Goodnight Melody. I hope your sleep is conducive to fine..."

"Atrus?" Melody said, laughter in her eyes. "'Sweet dreams' works just as well."

He chuckled. "Very well then. Sweet dreams."

Melody winked. "Don't stay up too late."

Back in her room, Melody shook her head. Atrus and his big vocabulary. If he ever uttered a slang word she was going to make that day a new D'ni holiday.

As she lay in bed gazing at the stars outside her window she tried to pretend that the excitement she felt was that Releeshan was complete and everyone was settled, but the truth of the matter was that she couldn't wait to see Trace again. They had gotten closer over the course of building the house in Tomahna. When he had left to return to Tay she'd been sad to see him go. When Atrus had announced that he was taking Trace on a tour of Releeshan, Melody had grinned so brightly that Catherine had laughed at her. Atrus, of course, had been oblivious to the reason behind the laughter. Melody had been itching to go with them, but had agreed to stay behind and look after Catherine and Yeesha. Atrus was especially adamant that they not be left alone after the recent trouble about the intruder.

Melody frowned thoughtfully. What was this intruder's agenda? If he was going to steal anything he would have done it by now. If he was just curious, why didn't he show himself? Was he afraid of Atrus? Or did he just not like people in general? What if it wasn't a person, but an animal moving things around? No, an animal wouldn't have put things back. How was the intruder coming and going without anyone seeing him?

Atrus had promised that he and Trace would only be gone a few days. Melody shut her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

It was likely the last she was going to get until they came back.

Melody sat on the balcony, enjoying the sunlight, the wind through the vines that wound around the pillars and the smell of the pretty yellow flowers that grew on the vines. Catherine was brilliant when it came to plants of any kind. Melody didn't doubt that the woman could get flowers to grow out of bricks.

She felt a sudden rush of wind and looked over at the linking spot. She smiled a greeting to the man that stood there.

"Trace," she said warmly, getting up from her seat. "I'm so glad to see you."

He was as handsome as ever, his dark hair slightly longer than the last time she had seen him. But his slate colored eyes were the same, except they warmed when they caught sight of her.

"It's been a long time," he said. "I should come to visit more often," he looked out over the view of the orange-yellow canyons that stood out in stark relief against the turquoise blue sky. "This balcony is new. It was a very good addition."

Melody nodded. "Isn't it breathtaking? This has easily become my favorite spot in Tomahna," she turned back to him. "Atrus is coming, he's just grabbing some things for your trip to Releeshan," she paused for a moment. "Unless he decides to check the whole house again, then he could be hours resetting all of his locks."

Trace looked surprised. "Locks? I don't remember putting in locks."

Her smile faded slightly. "No. They are new too. Come on. I'll show you to the study."

They made small talk as they waited for Atrus.

"How is everyone in Tay?" Melody asked.

"Well," Trace answered, glancing at Atrus' desk with interest.

"Has Kale found a wife yet?"

He smiled. "No. Perhaps he is waiting for you."

Melody laughed. "He's never going to live that down is he?"

"Not likely," Trace answered, but he sounded distracted. Melody realized he was looking at the Riven book that Atrus kept on a stand beside his desk.

"He keeps it there as a reminder of his past mistakes," Melody told him after a moment of silence. "He swears he will never let another people suffer as the Riven villagers have."

Trace opened the book and stared at the static-y page linking panel inside. "He never re-wrote it."

Melody shook her head. "I don't think he can. He tried to re-write the Ages that his sons destroyed, but was unsuccessful. It causes him much grief to know those worlds are lost forever."

Trace turned and looked at the twin picture frame on Atrus' desk. Portraits of two men were inside. "This is them? Sirrus and Achenar?"

Melody nodded. "I imagine he keeps their pictures for the same reason he keeps the Riven book. Catherine linked to Myst a few weeks ago. I tried to talk her out of it. When she came back, I could tell it had been very hard on her, seeing everything that had happened there and remembering what her sons did."

Trace straightened. "The past cannot be changed. It is best to forget and move on."

"It's not as easy as it sounds," she insisted. "The past can be very unforgiving. The more you want to forget, the more you remember. At least now they have Yeesha. I think having her is just what they need to heal the pain in their hearts over their sons."

Trace didn't respond. He looked over Atrus' experiments and sketches for improvements for different inventions of his. When he spotted the book behind glass, he went toward it. "Releeshan?" he read the cover and glanced back at Melody. "Behind glass?"

Melody looked toward the door of the study. "Atrus doesn't usually keep people waiting this long."

"Melody," Trace said firmly. "What is going on here? What has happened in my absence?"

She sighed. "There's been some trouble," she admitted. "Atrus swears his journals are being moved around, like someone is reading them and not putting them back in their proper places. Then his study door was left open and Catherine says that some of her plants have been moved."

"An intruder," Trace said thoughtfully. "Has he caused any damage?"

Melody shook her head. "Not yet. I think that's what worries Atrus the most. We have no idea who this person is or what they want. No matter how hard we search, we can never catch a glimpse of him. Now that the D'ni have been relocated to Releeshan, Atrus is worried that what happened to his library on Myst will happen here."

"Whoever it is, he must have linking books at his disposal," Trace pointed out. "How else could he come and go so neatly without you seeing him?"

"But then how are we not finding the books he leaves behind?" she asked. "And where is he linking out to? Atrus has all of the linking books here. Even the linking book to Myst is here."

"It could be linking books from the past that Atrus thought were lost. And who's to say that he is hiding the linking book away from here in a place not easily seen, a place where you might not think to look for it?"

Melody thought about it. "That's true. I never thought about it before. While you and Atrus are in Releeshan, I'll do a thorough search of the house and see what I can find."

Trace shook his head. "You're coming with us."

"I can't," she protested. "I have to look after Catherine and Yeesha."

"They will come along as well," Trace said. "I don't like the idea of leaving any of you here alone."

"Yeesha is still too young. And I don't think Catherine is up for a trip that will last several days. She's been ill. I'm sure we'll be fine. It's always about a week between incidents. Atrus found his study door left open last night. It will be a while before our intruder comes again."

Trace was frowning and looked ready to argue. The door of the study opened and cut him off. Atrus strolled inside carrying a shoulder bag.

He smiled at Trace in welcome. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting my friend. I was securing a few of my things. Let me get my keys for Releeshan and we'll..."

A sudden rush of wind startled them all. Turning, they saw a man had appeared in the room. He had long hair and was wearing clothing that looked like it had been pieced together from various animal hides. He eyed them all with animosity.

Before any of them could react, he snatched a fire marble from its holder on the wall and threw it. It hit the wall near them, causing the heavy drapes to burst into flames. As they threw up their hands to protect themselves, the sound of breaking glass made them look up. The man had broken the glass protecting Releeshan and was reaching for it.

"No!" Atrus cried. "Releeshan!"

Tucking the book under his arm, the man pulled out a linking book from the folds of his robe.

Melody raced forward and tried to wrench Releeshan from his grasp. The man shoved her away and linked out.

Without a second thought, Melody followed him. She heard Atrus and Trace call to her as everything went black.

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**This is longer then other chapters I know, but I wanted to get Melody to Jnanin right away. What do you think? Remember people : just because you reviewed once doesn't mean you can't do it again.**

**... Please...?**


	19. Chapter 19

**Something I wanted to let you guys know : I won't be writing out Myst 5 End of Ages. As for my reasons:**

**1) EoA never felt like a true Myst game to me. The whole vibe was off. It didn't have the same story quality, the same heart the other games had.**

**2) EoA was set FAR into the future. I don't see Melody running around Ages as an old woman. In fact, I'm pretty sure she'd be dead by then.**

**3) I have something planned after the fourth game. It is hard to explain because I don't want to give anything away, but know that is will be 100% mine as far as storyline. I may steal the names of a few Ages from EoA and there will be appearances by the characters we all know and love (Atrus, Catherine, Yeesha, ext) but other then that it shall be mostly original.**

**I don't own Myst. If I did there would be a WHOLE lot more games and possibly a movie staring Gerard Butler.**

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When she opened her eyes she was standing on a rocky ledge. Ahead she could see the man racing around the corner. Without thinking she followed him as he darted up a ladder built into the rock and across a wooden bridge toward a small building. He darted inside and by the time she reached the door he had locked it. She tugged on the handle and pounded on the door several times but he didn't seem to hear her. Through the small window she could see him pacing around inside. There had to be another way into the building.

She stepped back and looked around. From atop the rock she could see the entire island that made up the Age. It was a small, rocky island in the middle of a vast ocean. A deep crater was in the center of the island, a blue lagoon at the bottom of it. Giant tusks rose out of the rocky cliffs. She counted three plus the one the building itself was built on. Peeking over the side, she could see another building had been built on at the bottom of tusk. She gulped. It was a long way down. With all the cliffs and natural stairways in the rocks she was sure she could make her way down somewhat safely.

As she made her way around the island, she noticed that the other three tusks were smaller than the one the building was built on. They each had doors, but when she tried one she found it locked. The rest probably were too so she didn't bother trying to get to them.

Something else strange that she noticed were several poles with reflectors along the path around the island's rim. Each pole had a different colored marble on top of it. Looking through one, she saw that it could be turned to face other colored reflectors. Melody frowned. She had been in enough of Atrus' Ages to know a puzzle when she saw one. Hopefully she could convince the wild man to give Releeshan back without having to go through any tedious logic puzzles.

Somehow she doubted it.

She finally found a natural stairway in the rocky wall leading downward. It was very steep and at times she was terrified she was going to fall. True if she fell she would fall into the lagoon, but not knowing what was in that water made her want to avoid it at all costs.

Across another bridge and down a ladder finally got her to the bottom. Pillars of rock in the water made stepping stones that led to the building at the base of the giant tusk. Thankfully the door was unlocked.

The room she found was small and circular. The supports were wooden but the walls were a hard white material. Marble maybe, or ivory?

She noticed another door across the way and ignored everything else in the room. The door turned out to lead to an elevator. During the long ride up, Melody forced herself to breath normally. It probably wasn't very smart to head into a confrontation with an angry wild man without some kind of weapon, but time was of the essence and she didn't have time to grab anything. Not that she would have actually been able to use it anyway. She doubted she could even muster a good threatening stance. As far as threats went, she ranked somewhere above Barney.

When the elevator halted at the top, Melody realized quickly she didn't have to worry about confronting Wild-Man. He was in the process of linking into another book that stood on a pedestal. She watched helplessly as a golden cage shaped like an egg closed around the book and the entire thing lowered into a large hole in the floor.

Opening the door of the elevator, Melody stared at the hole contemplatively. She could barely make out the cage in the darkness. Could she risk jumping down, hoping she'd land on the cage and be able to reach through the bars to the book?

With her luck, not a chance.

Next to the hole was a machine that looked like a scanner. A bright blue button sat beside it. Not knowing what else to do, she pressed it.

Three projectors appeared out of the walls, their lights trained upwards at the ceiling.

A man's face appeared, looking down at her.

"Atrus?!" Melody exclaimed in shock.

The familiar face smiled warmly down at her. What the heck was going on?! The face was a lot younger and the hair was not grey, but a rich brown color but the face was definitely that of Atrus.

"My sons," the recording began. "I promised to teach you the secrets of my ages. This world is the first step on your journey."

His sons? No wonder Atrus looked so young. The message must have been recorded long ago, before Sirrus and Achenar betrayed him. Somehow, this age had survived the destruction.

"Search the island," the message continued. "You'll find three linking books which connect to ages in which you…"

The message garbled and faded. Atrus' face was replaced by another man. Melody gasped slightly as she recognized him as the man she had followed here. The man who had stolen Reeleshan.

Now that she had a better look at his face, she stepped back a little. It was a harsh face, weathered by time and hardship. The man's long dirty blond hair looked as though it has never been combed. His mouth was set in a grim frown, his thick eyebrows pulled low over cruel eyes.

The face smiled, but the smile wasn't a pleasant one. "Hello Atrus. It's been a long time. Sorry I'm not there to greet you in person, but I didn't think it would be wise considering how long I've been stuck here." The smile faded and the hard face resumed its frown. "Trapped in these lesson ages by two… greedy… little… boys. Your sons Atrus. Sirrus and Achenar."

The way he said the names sent chills down her spine. Oh no…

"Of course they're not so little anymore," the man continued. "Not so innocent. I've thought about innocence a lot these past few years. And what happens when it is lost. Worried about Reeleshan? I have it. Worried about friends, relatives, people you can't get back? I know just how you feel. But if you want to do something about it, you're going to have to open this device."

Great, Melody thought sarcastically. He's probably messed with it.

"There's just one problem… I've changed the three symbols that do that."

Perfect, she thought just as sarcastically. How could she always guess these things?

The man laughed. "So if you want to reclaim Reeleshan, you're going to have to take your own class!"

Melody glared at the screen. "It's not funny you retard," she grumbled. "And you laugh like a horse."

The man suddenly stopped laughing. Melody squeaked. He couldn't hear her… could he…? This was a recorded message… right?

She was relieved when he continued. "Find the three symbols Atrus. And don't keep me waiting for long…"

The face faded and the projectors turned off.

Melody stared at the screen and blew out her breath in annoyance. To recap, a wild man with a serious grudge against Atrus had broken into their home, stolen Reeleshan and was threatening the lives of everyone in it and the only way to save them was to go through these 'lesson' ages that Atrus had set up to teach his sons the mysteries of the ages that they ended up destroying. Not to mention that the wild man thought she was Atrus and she didn't know what he would do when he realized she wasn't.

Why her? Why always her? Why did she always get stuck having to deal with the crazies?

Well the only thing she could do was explore. That plan of action had always worked well in the past.

Down the elevator led her back to the room she had run through before. Now that she had time, she went through it more carefully.

It was a circular room with a large curving desk in the middle. There was a lot of stuff on the desk so she decided to save it for last. A hammock made of animal skin was stretched between the wall and the desk. Next to the hammock were two tables. One held some kind of hangman mobile with one figure hanging from one end and two hanging from the other end, balancing each end. It was representing the principle that two objects of different weight could balance each other if placed at a certain length apart. As she studied the model, the wild man's words came back to her. Could the figures supposed to represent Atrus and his two sons? If so, it was very disturbing.

On the hammock itself was a journal. Opening it, Melody was relieved that she could read it:

_I have done it. I have used his swirling linking book to follow him. I touched my palm to it's glowing panel and felt the tingling begin. There was a sudden, sickening lurch inside my stomach. Then I fell into the page._

_This has happened before. I know it. It happened the first time I came to this place. When I followed his murdering sons from Narayan. It happened when I used his hidden books. And it happened when I finally opened the machine. Right before the fog first ate my mind._

_The fog didn't find me this time. When I opened my eyes I was alone in a room. I was standing in the home of my betrayers._

_I couldn't move. I was afraid. I thought they'd know that I had come and would be waiting for me. Just like they had waited inside this very tusk. I was afraid they would tie me up again. That the poison snakes would strike._

_But the silence was unbroken. The whole house was still. And without knowing what I did, I began to search. Every room. Every floor. Every cabinet. I found his journals. Atrus' never-ending journals. I found the book that brought me back to this world. The lesson world he calls J'nanin._

_Oh Tamra my love. How long have I been trapped here? How much of my life has been eaten by the fog? The face I see in the lagoon isn't one I ever remember wearing. It's so much older. So much more savage. But it is me. It is Saavedro. And I remember what they did. How they led my people to death._

_I have returned several times now to Tomahna. I am searching for some sign of his sons. I was certain they would run back to their father, but so much time has passed. So many years in which to forget about my people._

_Is that what happened, Atrus? Safe in your beautiful new home, enjoying life with your dear wife and family. Did you become so busy envisioning new worlds that you forgot about the ones you left behind?_

_I must be very careful. I must not let them know that I am free. I will read what journals I can find to figure out where his two sons are hiding. And when I've found the sons again... when I've got the whole family together... I'll bring them down. Atrus and his family will suffer. The way I have suffered all these years._

_Sirrus and Achenar are not in Tomahna. Every day I become more and more convinced. Atrus' sons are not there._

_What happened Atrus? Did you grow tired of them the way to tired of Narayan? Did you abandon them the way you abandoned my people behind their shield._

_It does not matter. I can still take revenge against their father. Now that I am no longer stuck on J'nanin, I can avenge all the dead in my world. I have already reopened his other books. I have begun making changes in those worlds, using his own lessons against him. There is still much work to be done, but eventually I will lure him into this tusk. I will find some way to make his follow me here from Tomahna._

_No! It cannot be true! Surely his journals deceive me! He says he's brought them back. He says he's given his D'ni breathren new life. But how? How can one man have so much power? How can one man's writings re-awaken a dead world?_

_I don't know what this means. By all that is sacred Tamra, what could it mean?_

_It doesn't change a thing. I still continue as I planned. I can still seek revenge for my people. I will make my enemies suffer._

_It is finished. All is ready for Atrus' arrival. Tonight I will sleep among the ghosts. Then tomorrow I will link into Tomahna. When I link out, I will be carrying his book._

Melody lowered the journal, her eyes wide with confusion and worry. It was obvious this Saavedro guy wasn't all there, but having been trapped here for so long knowing that your world is gone is enough to drive anyone crazy.

Sirrus and Achenar. Why wasn't she surprised that they were the cause of all this? Those two selfish, greedy, bloodthirsty, black-hearted, scoundrels had destroyed so many worlds and now Atrus was having to pay for it.

Hopefully she would find Saavedro and tell him the truth before he damaged Releeshan.

The silence in the tusk made her nervous. She had gotten so used to having people around that the thought of going alone terrified her.

Where was Atrus? Where was Trace? Why hadn't they followed her?

The two men dug through the charred remains of what had been one side of Atrus' study. Catherine stood off to the side holding Yeesha.

"Any sign of it?" she asked worriedly.

"No," Atrus replied. "We can only pray it wasn't destroyed."

As he searched, Trace tried to remain calm. How could she have been so reckless? To follow an enemy into an unknown linking book alone, with no weapon to defend herself? When he got his hands on her, he was going to shake her until her teeth rattled. He was going to shout at her until she became deaf. He was going to…

"Here!" Atrus exclaimed.

Trace followed as Atrus rushed to his desk, a charred book in his hand.

"Is it whole?" Catherine asked.

"It is damaged, but still usuable," Atrus answered. "As long as…" he stopped abruptly as he opened the book. His face went pale. "Oh no…"

"What? What is it?" Trace asked and took the book from Atrus'.

The pages were burned beyond recognition.

Everything around him froze. He stared at the book with no expression on his face.

"It is as I feared," Atrus said. "The book is destroyed."

"Which Age does it link to?" Catherine asked. "We can look through your books and find another…"

"I'm afraid not," Atrus told her sadly. "The name has been completely burned. We have no way of knowing where Melody is and no way of following her."

"So…" Catherine's voice cracked and tears gathered in her eyes. "She's gone…? Melody is… gone…?"

Atrus rushed to comfort his wife. "Melody is a very resourceful young woman. She passed all of the puzzles and tests of Myst and braved the dangers of Riven. She saw through my sons lies and outsmarted my father. If anyone can find her way home, it's Melody. We can't lose hope."

Trace listened to Atrus' speech and Catherine's tears. He laid the book on the desk. "Where are your linking books?"

"What?" Atrus asked, looking up.

"Your linking books Atrus." Trace repeated. "Where are they?"

"On that shelf." Atrus answered.

Trace moved to the shelf and began removing the books, stacking them on the desk.

"Trace," Catherine asked. "What are you thinking of?"

"I am going to find her."

"But Trace," Atrus said. "I told you, it's impossible to know where…"

"Then I will search them all," Trace said sharply. "I will search them all and I will find her."

"Trace…" Atrus began, only to be stopped by Catherine.

"Let him be," she said. "It is what he must do."

She went to another shelf and pulled out a book. "This is a linking book back here to Tomahna," she told him. "Return here after each Age you search and let us know what is happening. We will stay here and keep watch should Melody or that terrible man return."

Trace nodded, took the book and linked into the first age on top of the stack.

Atrus put an arm around his wife and shook his head. "There is little chance he will find her. If there are linking books in the Age she is in, Melody could be anywhere."

"Tell me Atrus. If it was I who was lost in the ages, would you not search for me?"

"Of course I would. You are my wife. I could not live without you."

Catherine smiled. "I believe Trace is finally coming to that same conclusion…"

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**Aww so sweet! Trace to the rescue! :D **

**See ya next time! Don't forget to type in the little box below and click the pretty magic "post review" button...**


	20. Chapter 20

**Thanks to Winona and Guest for leaving such nice reviews for me. :) It warms my heart to read them.**

**Winona - I'm sorry about the 'rush-y-ness' of the chapters. While Myst was more laid back and about searching and discovering, Riven to me felt more rushed. You had specific goals you needed to accomplish and limited amount of time to do them before the Age collapsed. So for me, when I played, there was a sense of urgency in the exploring. I am trying to capture the feelings I had while playing the different games. I hope this new set of chapters, set in Exile, will be more Myst-like in their feeling of wandering and exploring.**

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Whatever Saavedro was he sure was a pack rat. The more Melody searched the more odds and ends she discovered. Gears, giant egg shells, sacks of dried flowers, furs, jars of things she didn't want to investigate, different colored stones in all shapes and sizes, dried meat, fire marbles, pieces of jagged crystals… it went on and on.

On the wall behind the hammock was a large drawing on the wall. A woman with bright wild red hair and an oval shaped face. Could it be Tamra, the woman Saavedro mentioned in his journal? The creepy part about the drawing was that the woman's eyes had either been rubbed out or had never been painted in the first place.

She wasn't sure which option creeped her out more.

On the desk was a large stone hammer and several contraptions that looked like experiments. By turning the crank on one of them, static electricity flowed through wires to a cylinder full of rocks. The rocks began to float. When she stopped turning the crank, the rocks fell.

On the other side of the contraption was a plant growing out of a large shell. Thick green vines stretched across the table. One lay near the cylinder. Curious, Melody moved the wires from the cylinder to the vines and turned the crank. The top of the plant opened and a fly flew out. It was a carnivorous plant. Something told her that knowing electricity caused the plant to open was going to be very important.

It was the kind of experiment Atrus would find fascinating. It seemed as though Saavedro was more like Atrus than he thought. Saavedro had called Atrus 'old friend'. She wondered why Atrus had never mentioned him.

Since there wasn't anything useful in the tusk, Melody decided to head up the elevator and inspect the projectors closer. Once she reached the top room or the tusk, she went to the door leading outside and unlocked it. No sense in taking the long way around to get to the other tusks, which she was sure was hiding the linking books to the lesson ages.

On the floor next to the door she spotted a piece of paper she hadn't seen before. Picking it up, she realized it was a page out of Saveerdro's journal:

_Sirrus. And. Achenar._

_The walls run red with steam and struggling branches. I see their bloated faces laughing at everything. I remember how they lied. I remember what they did._

_They brought me here to die._

_I followed them._

_The Lattice Root were black from too much overgrowth. Puffer spores floated up in the hot steam and burst. No one was there to guide the spores to the branches. No one waiting to perform the ritual Weaves. The fighting had torn my people apart._

_They didn't care._

_They didn't care._

_They wanted Narayan to die._

Melody had to read the page several times. The pictures Saveedro painted were horrible to imagine. To see your world destroyed before your eyes…

Great, now she was starting to feel sorry for him. But that still didn't excuse his actions. He would have to answer for what he had done, just as Sirrus and Achenar had.

The projectors were still open so she didn't have to push the button and watch the recording again. One was blue, one was red, and the last was green. Because it was closer, Melody went the green first. A small hole under the projector revealed a telescope with a symbol that looked like a bird etched in the middle. By adjusting lever on either side of the projector, she could maneuver it up and down and also change the focus. She scanned the area, hoping for a clue as to what she was supposed to do. The largest thing she could see from the telescope was one of the tusks. She moved the view slowly from the top to the bottom and found a window halfway up the tusk. And, interestingly, the window had a symbol that looked like a bird etched into it.

A hunch formed in her mind. Carefully maneuvering all the levers, she lined up the symbol on the telescope lens with the symbol on the window as precisely as she could. Had that unlocked the door of the tusk? There was only one way to find out.

Heading out of the door she had unlocked, Melody braced herself against the wind and made her way down the ladder, across the cliff and down another ladder toward the tusk.

When she got there, she frowned darkly. She should have known it wouldn't be that easy.

A large gap separated her from the door of the tusk. Along the cliff wall next to the gap was a large vine that was covered with large pink watermelon looking fruit, but seeing as how she didn't want to go crashing down into the lagoon with who-knew-what kind of animals that were probably hungry hiding in it, Melody didn't risk trying to walk on the fruit.

There had to a way across. Otherwise what would be the point of adjusting the telescope?

Glancing around and down, Melody saw there was a ladder leading to a small platform beneath the vine. On the platform was a large flower. Curious, Melody climbed down to inspect it. As she approached, a loud noise like howling wind hit her ears and she covered them in self-defense. In the process she managed to hit the flower, which moved. The loud noise suddenly stopped.

Melody lowered her hands, puzzled. That noise had been coming from the flower? Reaching out gingerly, she moved the flower.

The loud creaking of a bridge filled the small area. Standing behind the flower, Melody realized it was pointed at the bridge above her. She moved the flower downward, toward the lagoon. The peaceful sound of rippling water could be heard.

The flower was an amplifier! It amplified the sound of whatever it was pointed at! Could that be the key to getting to the door? Would the right sound cause a bridge to appear?

Moving the flower around as far as it would go proved to be useless. Evidently the right sound was not in the lagoon… at least not yet. Was there something she had to do first? Something she had to activate?

A flash of white down below caught her eye. There was a small cave at the bottom of the chasm. She waited, watching carefully. After a few minutes, a small white head poked out from the cave. She couldn't tell what it was, only that it was small.

Moving carefully back up the ladder, then across the bridge and down the steep stairs to the lagoon, Melody peeked around the corner and waited.

The animal appeared again moments later.

It was adorable! It was small and white, about the size and a housecat with large eyes, a long tail and a small curved horn going back from its head. It cocked its head and made a chirping noise, it's cheeks puffing out a little.

Melody wanted to scoop it up and cuddle it. When she moved out from behind the corner, it squeaked in alarm and darted back into the cave. Maybe she could coax him out with some food.

A little ways from the cave was a small beach with what looked like a smaller version of the vine up by the tusk. This vine also had several large pink watermelon-like fruit on it. Was that what the little creature ate? The two areas were separated by some shallow water. Did he not know how to swim? Did he not like getting wet? Was he afraid of the water? Was there a reason to be afraid of the water?

Melody eyed the dark water suspiciously. She was not about to find out, but there was no reason she couldn't make some sort of path for the critter.

Some large stones nearby made perfect stepping stones. Placing them close together, Melody stepped back and surveyed her work. A step-stone path to the beach, perfect for a hungry critter. Knowing he wouldn't come out if she was standing there, Melody moved back around the corner and didn't make a sound.

A few minutes went by before the little animal appeared, poking its head cautiously out of the cave. Seeing the stepping stones, he took one small step from the cave, then another. Then before Melody could blink he bolted across the stones and stood in front of the vine. It made its chirping noise.

Melody's mouth dropped in surprise as the pink watermelon things blew up like balloons, growing to twice their normal size. The critter began to chew on one of them, lapping up the purple colored juice that came out.

Melody smiled. "Eat up little guy," she whispered. "You just gave me the answer to my problem."

She went back up to the ampli-flower, positioning it to face the creature who was still chowing down. A loud puffing noise above her head made her look up in time to see the fruit expand all along the large vine. Climbing the ladder, Melody congratulated herself. The fruit was now large enough for her to walk all the way to the door which, thankfully, was unlocked.

Melody rubbed her forehead. She was going to have to do this with the other two tusks wasn't she? Jnanin was proving to be the Age of Headaches.

Inside the tusk, a green book sat on a pedestal. The word 'Edanna' was inscribed in gold on the cover along with the bird symbol from the telescope.

Opening it, Melody saw what looked like a giant tree in the middle of a vast ocean. But there was something strange about it. The tree looked… inside out…

The outside looked like bleached bark, but she could see that the inside of the tree was a lush jungle.

And somewhere in the jungle, Saveedro had hidden one of the symbols that unlocked the machine that held the book he had escaped into. Melody groaned. The jungle had a definite 'inhabited' look about it. Who knew what kind of animals were waiting to eat her?

She had no choice.

Placing her hand on the page, Melody held her breath as she linked into Edanna.


	21. Chapter 21

**Yay! Edanna! The Age of Nature! This is one of my Top 5 Ages of Myst Lore. I kept expecting to hear the famous Tarzan yell and see him come swinging through the trees. I would definitely love to build a tree house in Edanna.**

**There's a question for you, my readers : which Age would you like to live on?**

* * *

Her vision cleared and she saw she was standing on ledge. Gaps in the tree revealed the ocean outside. She moved carefully toward one of the gaps and saw that she was at the top of the massive inverted tree. The sun was blazing overhead and a salty breeze was blowing.

All in all not a completely horrible place.

The walls of the place were white, bleached by the sun. They looked uncomfortably like they were made of bone. Walking along the ledge got her to a tall plant with leaves leading upward like a staircase. Melody tested one of the leaves and found it to be surprisingly strong. Stepping carefully, she climbed to the top of the plant which was beside another ledge.

She was now at the very top of the tree-like structure facing a small alcove in the wall. A large mound of vegetation spilled out of the alcove. A nest? What would need a nest that large?

A loud, strange animal cry made her jump three feet. Pressing back against the wall, Melody watched open-mouthed as a large bird flew into view. It was very beautiful. It looked like a giant blue bird, with bright blue feathers, an orange stomach, long golden legs and large shiny black eyes. It had some kind of fruit in its mouth, which it leaned over and fed to a baby the size of a small dog. The baby was like a smaller version of its mother. Melody watched the scene with a smile. And if the birds ate fruit she didn't need to worry about becoming dinner. She could see two other eggs inside the nest. Melody wondered where the bird's mate was. Had it died or was it further down in the jungle?

Speaking of which, Melody thought looking around, that was where she needed to go.

The ledge led around and through a natural archway in the wall. Melody followed it around and upward to another of the tall, stair-like plant, but this one led downward. Next to the stair-plant was a wooden shelf with a book on it. The cover of the book said 'J'nanin'.

Melody frowned. Well it was a good thing she didn't have to hunt for it, but she couldn't head back until she found the symbol.

The thought made her pause. How was she supposed to know what this symbol looked like? Was it painted on one of the walls? The shape of a certain plant? Written on a piece of paper and hidden inside a complicated lock that she was going to tear her hair out trying to solve?

With that happy thought, she climbed down the plant toward the jungle below.

At the bottom the sun was blocked because of the plants so she could see better that before. Off to the side she spotted something glowing. Approaching carefully, Melody saw a large bowl-shaped plant filled with water, inside was what looked like a stingray swimming in slow lazy circles. The roots of another plant trailed in the water. The stingray swam to the roots and nibbled on them, sending an electric jolt up the plant. The top of the plant, which looked like a giant dandelion, shook and sent pollen flakes floating down into the water below. The stingray ate them hungrily.

Melody watched the whole thing in fascination. A contained eco-system separate, yet still a part of everything around it. _Atrus would freak if he saw this_, Melody thought. Hard on that thought came the reminder that Atrus had been the one to write Edanna so he more than likely already knew about it… She still couldn't wait to tell him about it.

Beneath the bowl-shaped plant was a thick vine that ran downward. Melody followed it and saw that it led to another bowl-shaped plant. A large bulb-like plant was attached to the vine over the bowl. Pulling on the bulb, Melody heard a gushing sound. Stepping back she watched as the bulb filled with water and the glowing stingray. Seemingly annoyed, the stingray sent a shock through the bulb, popping it and falling into the bowl. It swam around in quick, tight circles. Melody jumped back as it splashed her.

"Hey! Okay I get it! I'm sorry dude," Melody told the stingray. "I won't mess with any more bulbs."

Seemingly satisfied now that it had gotten her wet, the stingray went back to nibbling on roots.

Shaking her arms to throw off the water, Melody noticed a piece of paper lying on the ground. She stared at it for a moment suspiciously. It couldn't possibly be that easy could it? Moving slowly, looking around for any triggers for a booby trap, Melody reached down and picked up the paper. It was another page of Saveedro's journal!

_I have desecrated the poem he placed in the columns. I could no longer stand to see Narayan's artistry in his worlds. I think I can do something with sap to cover the second one, but I'm not sure what to do about the island. I don't know how to alter the current._

_Perhaps if I bring in some of the unusual floating stone from Amateria? Something about the molecular composition of the rock in that Age causes it to attract and repel other stone quite forcefully. Maybe if I introduce some of it to the soil on the island, it will interfere just enough to damage the last poem. I will have to conduct some experiments._

Melody read the page a couple of times, trying to make sense of it. Island? Poems? Floating rock? Amateria? What was Saveedro talking about? Amateria, was that another of the lesson Ages? Was Saveedro talking about altering this Age? Probably not, as this didn't seem like an island so much as a giant tree. So if Amateria was another lesson Age and Edanna was the Age she was currently in, Saveedro must have been talking about alterations to the third lesson Age. A floating island? Well that was certainly going to be interesting.

She came to a cliff. Looking down she saw more jungle below. The path continued on the other side of a gap that was just wide enough that she would have to jump. Since she really didn't feel like jumping to her very possible doom, Melody looked around for another was across the gap. She found it in an old fallen log. It creaked so she sprinted across as fast as she could, her feet barely touching the log.

On the other side she went through a log tunnel with glowing blue mushrooms on the walls. At the end of the tunnel the path ended at another cliff. A yellow glow came from inside a plant hanging near the cliff. A long twisting vine trailed from the bottom of the plant. Curious, Melody gave the vine a tug. The leaves around the glow peeled away to reveal the glowing center of the plant. The instant the light hit the rolled up leaf across the way, the giant leaf uncurled to form a bridge across the gap.

Melody grinned. This Age wasn't that hard to figure out.

She had barely crossed the gap when a loud panicked cry filled the air. Melody's head snapped upward. That sounded like the mother bird! Was she in trouble? Melody hurried along the cliff until it ended again at a gap. Thankfully there was a thick heavy vine that she could grab. Feeling like Tarzan, she swung across to the other side. Racing along the path through another log tunnel she came to a large plant that was moving and jerking. The plant looked remarkable like a larger version of the carnivorous plant on Saveedro's desk in J'nanin.

Approaching it carefully, Melody gasped as a head appeared at the small opening. The mother bird was trapped inside the large plant. Grabbing the lid, Melody tried to force it open but it stayed stubbornly in place. She had to get the mother out of there before she died!

Looking around for anything she could use Melody noticed the roots led downward to a large bowl-plant. She remembered the experiment in J'nanin with electricity and the plant roots…

The stingray! If she could get the stingray down there to shock the roots, the carnivorous plant would open and free the mother bird.

The bird cried helplessly. "Don't worry," Melody told her. "I'll get you out of there, I promise."

Following the path down and around, she found herself on a lower level. Leave it to Atrus to write an Age where the jungles had levels like an apartment building. Something on the wall caught her eye and she pulled up short.

On the wall of the tree was a massive painting. She could tell by the style that Saveedro had done it. She studied it, trying to make sense of the story it told.

Two men stood together before a crowd holding books. They looked like they were preaching. She recognized them as Sirrus and Achenar. While some of the faces in the crowd looked interested in what they were saying, other faces looked angry. One man in particular, standing away from the crowd looked worried. Could that be Saveedro?

It was a painting about Sirrus and Achenar's first visit to Narayan. This must be where they were causing dissention among Narayan's people, which had led to the war that Saveedro had described in his journal.

Melody turned away abruptly. She didn't have time to think about this. She needed to save the mother bird.

After a lot of climbing she finally reached the bowl plant. Thankfully a bulb was hanging just above the bowl. Melody looked upward. She could see the faint glow of the stingray high above her.

"Sorry dude," she called and pulled on the bulb. Jumping back out of range, she watched as the water poured down the vine and into the bulb, a very annoyed stingray along with it. An instant after entering the bulb the stingray shocked and burst the bulb, landing in the bowl.

Melody laughed as it tried to splash her again. "Last time I promise."

After splashing a couple of times, the stingray began chowing down on the roots in annoyance. Melody looked upward and watched as the electric shocks went up the vines. The carnivorous plant jerked a couple of times before opening. The mother bird shot out of the plant like a blue bullet, flying high into the air toward her nest.

"You're welcome!" Melody shouted with a smile, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

Rubbing her hands together, she looked around wondering what she was supposed to do now.

She spotted something off to the side and did a double take. What in the…? That couldn't possibly be a…? Melody went toward it shaking her head. A computer screen in the middle of the weirdest jungle ever? She shrugged. Why not? She had seen stranger things in Atrus' Ages before.

There was a button beneath the screen. She pushed it and waited. Saveedro's face came into view.

"What's the matter Atrus? Can't remember how things work? Yet you explained this class so well when we spoke of it in Narayan. 'I want Sirrus and Achenar to learn everything they can Saveedro. First from Edanna, Voltaic, Amateria and finally Narayan. When my boys come to see your people I want them to see Narayan's traditions at work and see how a civilization can balance an Age.'… Do you know what they did when they finally came to us?" Saveedro asked quietly, the fury written clearly on his face. "You never came back… After class was over, you took your boys away and you never came back… Sirrus and Achenar did…"

The message faded and the screen went black.

Melody stood motionless, a worried frown on her face. Atrus had meant well, Saveedro seemed to know that, but at the same time he seemed to blame Atrus for not returning. He didn't know that by the time Sirrus and Achenar had returned, Atrus had been trapped in D'ni by his sons.

If there was one thing she knew for certain, it was that she had to make sure Saveedro did not go after Atrus once he realized that she had followed him instead. Atrus had already been through so much, he didn't need any more guilt. She had to take care of this for him. She would do everything she could to help her dear friends, who had now become her family. She wouldn't let Saveedro's bitter mis-placed revenge make Atrus and Catherine suffer.

If only Sirrus and Achenar were still alive. She would have handed them over to Saveedro willingly on a silver platter.

It was several hours later that Melody pushed her hair out of her face in frustration. The humidity was turning her hair into a heavy wet mess. She had been searching for the symbol for what felt like years. She didn't even know what it looked like. She could have seen it several times already and not realized it.

She had managed to find another piece of Saveedro's journal.

_The book sits on the floor of the tusk, its swirling panel reaching out tentacle-like arms to grab me. I want to close my eyes, to shut out these false illusions before they suck me into the fog. I do not want those swirling arms to touch me._

_Why? Why am I so afraid of his book?_

_I want to remember. I must… I think…_

_I think this man may have come to our village. But he was younger then. Dark haired. Tall. Wearing those same strange flowing brown robes. He carried a book in his hands then too and he's always using it. Always writing down notes. His eyes are covered by thick glasses, but his face is warm and friendly. He tells me his name. He says it's Atrus._

_I remember now. His name is Atrus._

_Atrus says he's come to our village from a faraway place because he wanted to learn about the Tree. He says he'll only stay a while. He doesn't want to stop our endless labors. He says he wants to help, if we will let him._

_Oh Tamra, why did we let him?_

_Keep writing Saveedro. Write everything down._

_This Atrus stayed with us for months. I taught him how to trim the delicate Lattice roots. How to splice old and new roots together so the walls of our houses will grow strong. I tell him the traditions of the Weave. How by using the spores to support the branches, we keep the Lattice Tree alive. He wants to learn everything I know. He wants Narayan to survive._

_I take him to the rift, where the sea flows through gaps in the world. Steam flows up from the waterfall. The puffer spores are ready to take flight. We stand in the shadows of dusk and watch the spores begin to rise. He says they look like pearls against the sky. Then he points to one of the spores. It's smaller than the rest. Small enough to fit niche we'd woven into the branches that morning. Its skin is milky white. With just the faintest touch of pink._

_That one, Atrus said. That one should support your new daughter's room perfectly, I think._

_I remember I nodded. Then I raised my pipe and played. Atrus stood beside me, holding his breath as my song drew the hollow spore in close. As soon as it was near, he threw the net and dragged it in. _

_This is what I remembered._

_This is why I said he could send me his sons._

The smile that Melody had while reading about Atrus and Saveedro's time together faded once she read the final line. Saveedro had trusted Atrus so much. But neither man had known just how evil Sirrus and Achenar would become. It was heartbreaking to read. Atrus had been devastated when he'd learned what his sons had done. He didn't know the half of it.

Melody wiped the sweat from her forehead and sat down on a log. She had finally reached the bottom level of the tree and was thrilled to find that it was a mucky, nasty, creepy swamp. She had seen enough giant bugs to start her own collection.

She felt something land on her shoulder. Her eyes moved slowly to the side and saw that it was a giant moth. And she knew it was a moth because it started to nibble on her shirt.

"Oh get lost!" she said in annoyance as she swiped at him to drive him away. Thankfully she hadn't seen any other giant animals that could make her run away screaming bloody murder, but she really didn't want to stick around see if she could find any. Honestly where the heck had Saveedro hidden the stupid symbol? She really didn't want to spend the night in this place. She just ignored the fact that the J'nanin linking book was several hours climb above her.

One thing that she had found that was really cool was a giant white flower. Actually there were two, but one had already opened and was wilting. The other was still closed. It was so large that Melody had looked carefully for a door just in case an elf or a fairy lived inside. With Atrus' ages, you never knew what you would find.

She walked up to the flower and knocked, just in case. When nothing happened she sighed and turned to continue her search.

A loud cry echoed overhead. Melody looked up to see the mother bird fly in and land on a branch above the closed flower.

"Oh, you again," Melody said, placing her hands on her hips. "What do you want?"

The bird cocked its head and made it's call again.

"Hey this isn't as easy as it looks," Melody protested, frowning at the bird who was looking at her with a bored expression. "I'm trying my best."

The bird raised a leg to scratch its head, seemingly unimpressed with her excuse.

"Well do you know where the symbol is?" Melody asked sarcastically. "If you're so smart, show it to me."

The bird called again, then leaned its head down to peck at the giant flower. It lifted its head and called again.

"Is it in there?" Melody asked, then shook her head. "I can't believe this. I'm talking to a bird."

The bird continued to sit and wait like it was expecting her to do something.

"Alright," she told it. "I'll see what I can do."

Examining the outside of the flower didn't reveal anything helpful, except there was a very large vine leading away from the flower. Melody followed it until she found a hole. It turned out the vine was hollow, like a tube leading to and from the flower. It was large enough for her to crawl through. It was a tight squeeze, but she made it and soon she was standing up inside the massive flower.

It smelled sickeningly sweet inside, like when you were trapped in an elevator with a woman wearing too much perfume. Waving a hand in front of her face, Melody looked for anything important.

A piece of paper caught her eye. Evidently she was on the right track if Saveedro had dropped part of his journal here. Melody had given up the idea that he had dropped them accidently. She had now decided that the journals pages were like Saveedro's trail of bread crumbs for Atrus, to keep him on the right path. Saveedro wanted Atrus to jump through all of his hopes, solve all of his puzzles and make it to the final Age for a huge confrontation.

Melody rolled her eyes. Why were bad guys always so dramatic?

She read the page:

_The final painting to almost done. It's been hard to work in the heat, but he must see everything that happened. As he follows to instructions I have left him, he will feel the pain I have suffered._

_If he doesn't perhaps both of us will die._

Short and to the point for once. It was obvious the Saveedro had suffered a lot, but Melody was starting to get a little annoyed with him. Every journal entry was beginning to sound the same: Saveedro suffering, Saveedro messing up the Ages, Saveedro hating Atrus, Saveedro hating Sirrus and Achenar. Did he really do nothing else with his time all these years?

There were several large purple fruit growing in the center, the stems curving upward into a structure that looking almost like a cage. Melody slipped inside the cage and saw where stamen of the flower went to the top where the petals met. Grabbing hold of the stamen, Melody gave it a hard yank. It took several tries, but finally the stamen broke and the petals fell away.

The bird called and swooped down. Before Melody could move, the bird had grabbed the top of the cage. Taking off, the bird flew through an opening in the side of the tree and Melody saw the ocean fly by underneath as the mother bird flew higher and higher. Melody squeezed her eyes shut and held on for dear life.

Why had she messed with it? Why did she always have to mess with things? One of these days she was going to kill herself by messing with something she shouldn't have. Had she learned nothing from a childhood of reading Curious George books?

The terrifying ride came to abrupt halt as the bird suddenly dropped the cage. It only fell a few feet before crashing, sending Melody tumbling out. Rubbing her head, Melody looked around to see she was at the top of the tree once again.

"No," she moaned and looked at the mother bird, who was tearing large pieces of the purple fruit to feed to her baby. "Stupid bird!" she ranted. "I'm back where I started! Do you know how long it's going to take me to get back down there?!"

The mother bird ignored her ranting and continued feeding her baby.

"Oh if you get stuck in another carnivorous plant I swear I am going to let you get eaten!"

Melody stopped her rant when she noticed something on the wall on the other side of the nest that she hadn't seen before. It looked like a drawing of a twisted vine with three leaves bunched on one end. It had been painted on the wall with black paint.

No… there was no way… she searched the whole tree and the symbol was… right… by… the nest…

Melody had heard of people seeing red when they were angry. She'd never known it was actually possible until that moment.

When she found Saveedro, she was going to kill him.

Trying to control her anger, Melody studied the symbol, committing it to memory. Then she turned and stomped toward the linking book.

The bird called to her.

"Shut up!" Melody shouted without stopping. "I don't want to hear anything from you!"

Back in J'nanin Melody went to Saveedro's study and drew the symbol on a piece of paper, still seething over her time in Edanna. Was she really that unobservant? Or was Saveedro that devious? It was probably quite a bit of both. If Trace were here, he would be laughing at her right now.

Melody paused. Trace. Where was he anyway? Why hadn't he and Atrus come after her by now? Had Saveedro somehow returned to Tomahna and kept them from following her? No, if he had done that she was sure he would have come there to stop her from getting the symbols by now. Unless he was just going to leave her wandering around Atrus' lesson Ages for the rest of her life.

Melody shook her head sharply. She really needed to quit it with the happy thoughts.

She rode the elevator up the observatory/projection room and placed the paper on the scanner. The machine scanned the paper and the golden egg-shaped cage rose from the hole. The projectors switched on, aiming at the ceiling. Saveedro's face appeared.

"Not so easy is it Atrus? Running around like a rat in a maze, looking for some sign that will help you save your people? Is it over here? Is it over there? Is it some place I can't find? Sirrus and Achenar didn't care about saving Narayan. All that talk about fixing instabilities and rewriting the Age so that we would be free to live our lives, that was just talk. To hide the truth of why they had come. But we believed their lies, Atrus. So we abandoned out traditions, forgetting that those traditions were keeping Narayan alive. And when the last tree started to die, I followed them here to tell them what they had done… and they laughed." Melody winced at the bitterness in Saveedro's voice. "They said that they would never fix Narayan. They said they had already taken everything it had worth saving." Saveedro's voice cracked and he looked like he was about to cry from the memory. He seemed to get a hold of himself. "And so, my dear old friend, I've brought you to this place where your education begins. Find the remaining two symbols… and come see what your boys did to Narayan."

The message faded.

Melody stared at the book inside the gold cage. The closer she got to going to Narayan, the more she didn't want to see what had become of it. From what she had seen of the other Ages that Sirrus and Achenar had ruined, she could only imagine what Narayan looked like. Was there still a way to save it?

Her first priority was getting Releeshan back. She would worry about everything else after she was sure the D'ni people were safe.

* * *

**Told you this one would be longer. It was almost too long, but there wouldn't have been enough for a second chapter and I wanted to end each Age with part of the message from Saveedro. Hopefully this wasn't too long for you guys.**

**Care to guess which Age we're going to next?**


	22. Chapter 22

**Alrighty next up is Voltaic : The Age of Energy. I personally liked this Age a lot. I liked the scenery of the canyon walls and the contrast of the open ocean beyond. And I liked all of the machinery. It gave the Age a steam-punk feeling. Of course a lot of Myst has a steam-punk feeling. Its one of the reasons I like it so much. :)**

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Looking through the red telescope got her a view of something that looked like a sail off of a boat. She fiddled with the levers until the sail was lined up with the one on the window of the tusk. She left the observatory and made her way toward the tusk. She was surprised to find her way was completely clear. Surprised and suspicious…

Once she reached the door she realized her suspicions were well-founded. It was locked.

Five buttons were arranged in a circle on the door. Great, a combination lock, her favorite.

Turning she spotted some kind of funny machine pointed at the door. It looked sort of like the one she had seen on the other side of the crater, near the linking spot. She shielded her eyes from the sun to gaze across the gap toward the other machine, also spying several of the stands with colored marbles on top of them.

Melody groaned. Something told her she was going to be a lot of walking for this puzzle.

The other machine was actually extending out of the water a few feet from the island. By turning a wheel nearby, the machine turned and opened. Melody cried out and covered her eyes as bright light blinded her. She moved away and blinked rapidly, trying to get rid of the spots. Once her vision returned to normal, she glared at the machine.

"Nice."

The machine was silent.

Following the beam of light, Melody saw that it was shining directly on one of the stands. By turning the stand (carefully) she could direct the beam wherever she wanted it to go. That was it! She had to direct the light from reflector to reflector until it hit the door of the tusk.

Looking out over the crater Melody plotted out the path the light would have to travel in her mind. Of course it couldn't just go directly to the door. Of course not. Because Saveedro had broken the one reflector/stand it looked like she was going to have to use all of the remaining reflectors on the island.

Yep… she was going to be doing a LOT of walking…

As she made her tedious hike around the island to redirect the reflectors, Melody noticed that each reflector had a different colored marble on it. Since that was probably very important to solving the lock, she made note of each color in the order she came to. It did take every reflector on the island and by the time she was done she was hot, tired and very annoyed with Saveedro. Honestly, couldn't he have just left everything alone? Atrus' puzzles and locks were hard enough without Saveedro messing with them.

Finally, FINALLY, she finished aligning the reflectors and headed back to the door. The light passed through the machine and hit something that she guessed was a prism inside. It projected onto the door in a rainbow of colors, each color covering a button. She guessed the combination for the door must have been the order of the colors on the reflectors she had used:

Yellow, blue, green, red, yellow, purple, red.

When she pressed the final button the handle turned and the doors folded open. The red linking book sat on the pedestal, the word Voltaic inscribed on the top along with a picture of a sail that matched the one in the window.

Melody didn't hesitate before linking into the book.

The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was that she was on another island, standing on a metal platform that didn't look all the sturdy. The island itself was mad of red rock that reminded her of Arizona. On a small rocky island off the side there was a tower made out of rock. Well, to be honest it wasn't that much of a tower. The top half looked like it had fallen in a storm, but the large circular door was still standing. Melody didn't have to test it to guess that it was locked.

A small metal stand near the door held a J'nanin linking book. Melody liked having the linking books so close to the start of a new Age. It meant she wasn't stranded and that she had a way back in case things drove her a little too crazy and she needed a break.

She examined the large door and saw that it didn't have a regular lock, but several bolts that extended out from the center. It was probably an electric door that wasn't getting any power. The symbol was probably inside. Oh well, at least she knew from the get go what she had to do and wouldn't need to wander around like she had in Edanna.

Now to figure out how to get power to the door.

Several cables ran from the tower and through the winding canyons beyond. It looked like there was going to be several machines she would have to activate, each generating different kinds of power. Why wasn't she surprised?

Following the metal walkways of questionable integrity, Melody began to explore the area. She hadn't followed one very far before entered a tunnel and spotted a paper on the walkway.

She picked up the page and read it:

_It is coming back to me. Slowly. The knowledge of who I am. How long have I been trapped here? So much of it is blurry. Whole blocks of time still floating in the fog that eats my mind. But if I concentrate, I get pieces of it back._

_It was the dream that first helped me remember. I was lying in the reeds near the tusk. I don't know for how long or how I got here. I am staring at the sky. Seeing a man grow out of the cliff. First his head. Then his shoulders. Then his torso. Sunlight rims his body like a halo. I cannot move. I think that Death has finally come for me._

_The man stands on the cliff with a book in his hand, staring down at the lagoon as if something mad him sad. I wanted to call out to him. To tell him it was me he's come to find. But my mouth is dry. I cannot remember any words. And before I think to stand, he opens his book. Puts his hand on the page. And fades to dust._

_I thought he was a dream. It was only later… hours? Or weeks later?... that I find his swirling book atop the cliff. And when I reach down to grab it, it is real. _

_The fog tried to swallow me then and there but I held on to the firm reality of the book and did not let it. I did not let the numbness steal my mind._

The more pages she found the more concerned she got. Just how far gone was Saveedro's mind? How much of it had he gotten back? Did he still have these blackouts when he didn't know what he was doing? What if, in one of these blackouts, he lost or destroyed Releeshan?

Worrying wasn't going to get her anywhere. She had to focus on the task at hand.

This entry answered the question of how Saveedro got a linking book to Tomahna. It must have happened when Atrus had visited his Ages to check on them after she had freed him from D'ni. She really needed to have a talk with Atrus about leaving linking books lying around.

Melody followed the walkway until it veered off to a door. The handle was red hot so she didn't try to open it. There was either fire or lava behind the door and Melody wanted to avoid both. Burning to a crisp was not how she wanted to die.

She continued to follow the blue lit walkway around to a large chamber made out of rock. A few stairs led upward into a circular tunnel. There was a diagram on the wall to the right with five symbols that were all interconnected. To the left was a ladder that led upward to a control tower. The top of the tower over looked a structure that reminded her of a dam. One of the power sources must be Hydro-electricity generated from the cylinder-like tunnel below.

Climbing back down the ladder, she decided to explore what was on the other side of the tunnel before activating the cylinder. The tunnel opened out to a platform with another large circular door at the other side. A ladder led down a hole, but it was flooded.

Knowing that she probably wouldn't know what to do until she explored the entire area, Melody went back through the tunnel and past the ladder to the walkway. It continued around and out into a large open canyon-like area with several large machines. Cables ran high above the canyon floor. The walkway split in the middle, with one side going to an elevator that didn't work and the other going toward a large cave with machinery inside.

Had Atrus written all of this complicated machinery into the Age or had he built them himself? She didn't see how he could have accomplished it by himself, given the size of the machines. Had his sons helped him? That seemed unlikely as well.

At the beginning of the cave she spotted something interesting. A small airship, its balloon deflated. It was attached to the cables. Well know she knew what the cables were for. It looked like the ship lead back to the little island where she had started. At least she wouldn't have to walk back, that is if she could find out how to inflate the balloon.

Moving past the airship, she came to a platform with a lever that faced a console with four wheels and a gauge. She tried turning one of the wheels, but nothing happened. Something needed to be running through the pipes connected to the wheels, but what?

A rickety ladder next to the platform led upward to another platform. This one had a page from Saveedro's journal on it:

_The cavern wall is almost ready. For weeks I have been polishing it, rubbing away at the cracks to obtain a smooth surface. I haven't been able to sleep much these past weeks. I was afraid I might never wake up. But if I can make him see all that happened… if I can show him the pain his family has caused… it will be worth it._

_Tomorrow I begin mixing the paints._

He must have been talking about the mural she had seen in Edanna. Had that been the only mural he had drawn? Were there others here and in the final Age? She would have to keep an eye out. She wasn't really sure she wanted to see what Saveedro had drawn though.

A large circular door across from the platform rotated to reveal a tunnel that lead to one of the larger pipes she had seen. Melody stared at the pipe and frowned.

Was she supposed to cross that?

She was supposed to cross that.

Melody then did something she wanted to kick herself for.

She looked down.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she gulped and gripped the large pipe, wrapping her arms and legs around it. Slow and steady, that's how she would get across. Slow and stea-

She gasped and shrieked as she foot slipped. Thankfully she caught herself before she could fall off. She hugged the pipe tightly, afraid to look or breathe. This… was… not… fun…

She had already decided to kill Saveedro, but now Atrus was started to move up her hit list. Why couldn't he, for once, write an Age where everything was accessible without doing something that could cause her death? She couldn't decide if it was an accident, that he was just overly dramatic at times or if it was on purpose and he was fond of life or death situations.

Focusing on her inner rant, she was able to make it to the other side fairly quickly. The pipe ended at another circular door, but this one opened normally. When she climbed inside, she realized the 'door' was actually a vent. Hot air blew in her face, making her feel a little woozy. Thankfully she didn't have to go very far before she spotted another opening leading down into a room. She was sweating profusely, even though she had only been in the tunnel for a few seconds. Unfortunately the room was only slight cooler than the vent had been.

The room was small. A glass window looking into another larger room with a fan took up one wall. A ladder led down into a hole in the floor. The door on the other side of the room looked familiar. It was the door with the red-hot handle that she had seen before. So there wasn't any fire or lava, but it sure felt like it. Melody wiped her forehead. She needed to figure this room out fast before she got heat stroke and passed out. Being baked alive was right up there with burning to a crisp in her book.

She climbed down the ladder, which was even hotter if it was possible. When she looked through the small window on the circular door at the bottom she realized why. The room beyond was filled with lava.

Melody climbed back up, relieved to be back in the room. Since her vision was starting to swim a little, she climbed back into the vent and headed back outside. The canyon air felt cool and refreshing now. As Melody cooled down, she thought about what she had seen. A room filled with lava. A large fan. A pipe leading back to the wheels and gauge. The other source of power must be steam. The fan blew the hot air into the pipe, which ran to the gauges which, when set to the right setting, filled the airship and inflated the balloon.

She wiped her forehead again. She was still sweating. Maybe she would leave inflating the balloon for later. She moved back across the pipe and was grateful to be back on the platform. She walked all the way back to the water wheel. She would solve that problem first.

It turned out the water wheel wasn't broken at all. The metal flaps that extended to catch the water and make the wheel move were closed. Flipping them open and turning the wheel at the top of the tower to move the gate and get the water flowing was all it took and presto! : Hydro power.

She could only hope the rest of the power generators were as easy to figure out.

Now that the gate was shut on one side, she could now climb down the ladder into the hole she had seen before.

Unfortunately once she climbed down she realized something. At the bottom of the hole was a crack to lift a large gear to connect with the water wheel. With the water wheel spinning, the gear couldn't connect with it.

Melody groaned and rolled her eyes. So far Voltaic was proving to be a gigantic pain in the butt.

By the time she had climbed back up the tower, turned the gate, climbed back down, closed the flaps, climbed back up and turned the gate, climbed down the hole, raised the gear and opened the flaps so the wheel could turn again she was hot, tired and highly annoyed. Heaven help Saveedro if he decided to drop in on her.

And heaven help Atrus once she got back to Tomahna.

Now that the gear was in place and being turned with the water wheel, the heavy circular door on the other side of the water wheel opened easily. Beyond the door was a ladder leading down into a chamber. A tunnel with cables above it led off to the right and a video monitor was in the corner. The monitor looked exactly like the one she had seen in Edanna, so she had no doubt there was another message from Saveedro on it.

Just because she wanted to rest for a minute, she pressed the button.

Saveedro's face once again appeared on the screen. "Twenty years Atrus," he snarled. "Twenty long years alone! They tied me to a post. They burned their Myst linking books in front of me. They took everything I had! My wife! My two baby girls! And then… when I finally made it back to Narayan and I saw… I saw…" his face creased with pain and his eyes shut, as though to keep a terrible image away. "It would have been better," he finally said through gritted teeth, "if I had died."

The message faded to black.

Despite her anger, Melody felt her eyes sting a little. What had he seen? His wife and children dead?

Sirrus and Achenar. The sound of their names sent a new wave of rage and revulsion through her. It was a good thing they were dead and out of her reach. She would have happily killed them with her bare hands.

She shook it off as best she could and headed off into the tunnel. It led back toward the island she had seen when she'd first arrived. It ended at a large cavern underneath the island. There was a large machine in the center. A large panel showed several lines of circuitry and buttons on either side. When she pressed one, the entire machine rotated to a new set of circuits.

If she had to guess, it looked like a giant magnet. Electromagnetism was a type of energy source, so it would make sense if that was what it was. But why was it built under the island? There had to be a reason. With Atrus, there was ALWAYS a reason.

Because there were several panels she had to complete it took a while to get everything matched up properly. By one of the panels she found a page from Saveedro's journal:

_It is taking me too long! Every minute I spend searching his house runs the risk of someone walking in and finding me. I would bring his journals to the tusk, but I'm afraid he will notice them gone. Already, I'm afraid of what he knows. Of what his wife might know. And the young woman. Who is she? Atrus did not mention having a daughter and I did not see her with Sirrus and Achenar, neither did they mention her. So who is she?_

_It doesn't matter. If she is staying with them, then she is one of them. She will suffer as well._

_She almost caught me last time. I linked directly into the sun room. I was walking toward his study when I heard footsteps coming down the hall. She was talking with someone. She was laughing. And for one heart-wrenching moment, I thought she was Tamra._

_Then I remembered my Tamra is dead. I left her to die when I went after the brothers. I told her to go to the reef, to take our two girls there and hide. I took the necklace she gave me to remember her and I told her… Oh god Tamra! I told you it would all be okay! For years I prayed that my words were not a lie. That you had made it to the reef. That you were tending the ailing Lattice roots. By the weaving Tamra, how I prayed._

_Until I opened his machine._

_I saw Narayan through his shield. And even though the barrier kept me locked inside, I knew… I knew the Lattice Tree had died. Narayan can't survive without the Tree. No one can be alive outside his shield._

_Standing in Atrus' home, knowing that my wife and children were dead, I felt the fog roll toward me again. And as much as I wanted to give into it's numbness, I couldn't. I couldn't let the woman find me standing there. Somehow I waded through the haze. I made my way to the study, found the book that would take me back to J'nannin. It was right where I had left it. Where they might not see it fall. I placed my hand on the panel. Heard the door behind my opening. And then the study disappeared. _

_She almost saw me. I know it. It was much too close this time. If the book hadn't been where I had left it…_

_Next time, I'll bring a book from one of his other Ages with me. Just in case it happens again._

Melody felt a chill go through her. She remembered that day. She had been walking with Catherine, laughing about how Atrus was so wonderful at writing Ages yet couldn't manage to make a meal without burning it.

When they had entered the study, she had felt that something was off. Something in the air that didn't feel right. She had brushed it off as Atrus' paranoia getting to her.

So close… Melody and Catherine had been so close to running into Saveedro. What would he have done to them had they caught him in the study? Would he have harmed them? Catherine had been carrying Yeesha. Would he have hurt the baby? With the state of his mind, there was no telling.

She hadn't missed the threats he had made against her. So she was marked to suffer as well? He didn't even know who she was, yet the bitterness of his revenge covered her in his mind.

By the time she had thought this through and was mad at Saveedro again, the electromagnet was connected and humming with power. The cables led upward towards a metal circle on the ceiling. Why would a simple metal circle need so much power? She supposed she would eventually find out.

Now that the electromagnet was sending power throughout the Age, Melody went back to test the elevator she had seen before. This time, to her delight, it worked perfectly. She rode the small elevator down with a sense of accomplishment. She was actually getting somewhere with all of these energy puzzles.

The elevator stopped at a walkway that had a tow cable attached to it. The same tow cable the air ship she had seen before was attached to. A lever at the end of the walkway opened the large wall, that turned out to be a large gate, in front of the air ship. But since the air ship was deflated, it didn't move beyond the gate.

Melody looked across the canyon and frowned. She had a pretty good idea where the steam to power the air ship needed to come from. It looked like she was heading back toward the lava room.

When she went back to the elevator, she spotted another page of Saveedro's journal stuck in the bottom of the shaft:

_I see it all so clearly now. So clear, without the fog to sweep it away. How the young men in the village don't want to listen to the Elders. How they stand together at the back of the room, a growing knot of anger twisting inside of them. 'Why should we abide by your rules, old men?' they scream. 'You have no life inside you left to live! You gave it up decades ago to the Tree!'_

_Tamra wants to take the children home. She doesn't like the way the tempers are rising. 'Do something Saveedro,' she whispers. 'Tell them to stop shouting and make them listen. Tell them.'_

_What, my love? Tell them what? That their young lives do not belong to them alone? That our people are meant to be slaves to our world?_

_Sirrus and Achenar can see the confusion they are creating. I catch them looking at faces, measuring which men are most dissatisfied. Later they will approach these men in secret. They will urge the malcontents to boycott our rituals. They will prey on their youth and dissatisfaction. And the young men will begin forming gangs. They will throw off our traditions, rise against the Elders and follow the brothers. Riots will start and the Tree will be neglected._

_Oh Tamra. It is so obvious now. But why couldn't I see it at the time? Every lie the brothers told. Every whisper made to put themselves in power. And when our world started collapsing around us, why didn't I see how Sirrus and Achenar didn't care? They never believed the truth behind our traditions. They never understood the work we had to do. They only knew the time had come to leave._

_And when they did they left their linking book behind, knowing I could use it to chase after them. They lured me to this world, tied me up and left me to die here._

_Because I didn't stop them when I should have._

It looked like there was plenty of blame to go around in Saveedro's mind. Was that the source of his bitterness against Atrus? This deep-lying sense of guilt for believing Sirrus and Achenar's lies, the torment of asking himself what if: What if he had stopped them? What if he had known?

She thought of the weathered face and hard eyes in her mind. Didn't he realize there was no way he could have known? That there was no way any of them could have known? Even Atrus hadn't known what his sons were capable of.

It was scary to think about how much destruction was caused and how many lives were lost because of two greedy men.

These sobering thoughts accompanied her as she made her way back toward the lava chamber. Because she had left the vent open the room had cooled somewhat, but was still incredibly hot. Melody felt so sweaty and dirty, she was glad Trace wasn't around to see her. Maybe she could wash in the lagoon when she returned to J'nanin.

The fan inside the lava chamber had to be connected to the air ship. The only problem was turning it on. A single red knob sat on a circular panel. Turning the knob counter-clockwise caused the walkway inside the lava chamber to lower and the lava to drain out. Turning the knob clockwise caused the walkway to rise, but the lava did not return. There was a notch for the knob to slide through the middle of the panel, but this was impossible because of the large bolt that had been forced into the notch, blocking the path of the knob.

Saveedro strikes again, Melody grumbled inwardly. She was ceasing to be surprised by his sabotage. It looked like she was going to have to do this the hard way.

Now that the lava was drained from the chamber, she was able to go down the ladder, open the door and enter the large chamber. She walked out onto the walkway and stopped short. A painting covered the wall on one side of the walkway. It matched the one in Edanna as far as style and she recognized several of the figures. Saveedro was obviously the artist.

She saw the landscape of Narayan, but this time it was very different. Homes were burning. People was fighting and killing each other. Saveedro and his wife Tamra stood off to the side. Tamra was holding two small girls close to her, all three looked terrified. Saveedro looked on the scene with a mixture of surprise and anger. Above it all, two laughing figures sailed away on what looked like a gondola attached to an overhead cable.

Sirrus and Achenar.

The whole scene made her sick and she had to look away. Although Saveedro had described it in his journals and she had imagined it in her mind, seeing it was a different matter entirely. Melody looked back at the small, frightened faces of Saveedro's daughters. She saw Yeesha's face reflected in theirs. No child should have to go through such horror. Were they still alive, or had the sight of their friends and family killing each other as their home burned been the last thing their young eyes had seen?

Melody looked away as tears stung her eyes. There wasn't time for this. She had to complete the power grid and find the symbol so she could return to J'nanin.

Another panel with a red knob stood at the end of the platform, only this one was noticeably bolt-less. Turning it counter clockwise caused the walkway to rise and lava to fill the room again. The heat hit her in waves and she felt nauseous. Gripping the rail for support, she slid the knob through the center notch. The gear that had lifted the walkway moved to the other side of the platform. By turning the knob clockwise again, she raised the walkway all the way up to the fan. She opened the flaps and flipped the switch. The fan hummed to life, sucking the hot air out of the room. By doing all of the steps in reverse, she got back into the control room. She turned the knob counter-clockwise to open the lava gate and fill the room once again.

She wiped her forehead and made her way out through the vent and across the cavern to the air ship.

Hot air was moving through the pipes, but in order for it to pump into the air ship the pressure had to be set to just the right amount. That was where the valves she had seen earlier came in. According to the hash mark on the reader, there needed to be 19 units of pressure. If all of the valves had been operational, this wouldn't have been a problem, but since one was jammed (Saveedro yet again) Melody had to reset the pressure manually. It wasn't difficult so much as tedious. She had to ride the platform up and down to reach the other valves, as each level controlled a different amount of pressure. The bottom level control 10 units of pressure, the middle level controlled 4 and the top controlled 1. Some quick math did the trick and before she knew it the air ship was pumped and ready to go.

This time when she went back around, down the elevator and opened the gate the air ship coasted on through along the cable and stopped next to the platform she was on.

How convenient.

She didn't trust it.

After inspecting the air ship thoroughly and finding nothing wrong, Melody decided to take a chance and board it. She sat on the little wooden seat and pushed the pedal at her feet.

The air ship followed the overhead cable away from the machinery and off into another canyon. There was nothing for Melody to do but sit back and enjoy the scenic ride to who knew where.

The ride turned out to be shorter than she expected. The air ship turned the corner of the canyon and Melody immediately spotted the water wheel she had fixed earlier. The air ship glided over the rushed water and came to a stop on a raised platform next to the small island.

Well that was interesting, but thoroughly pointless. Melody thought. Where is the darn symbol?

Melody had folded her arms and was tapping her foot in annoyance when she spotted something at the end of the platform.

A lever.

She eyed it warily. Then skeptically. Then curiously. Slowly unfolding her arms, she took slow deliberate steps toward the lever, like it would attack at any moment. She stared at it and bit her lip.

Should she do it?

She really didn't know what it did.

It might be dangerous.

She shouldn't do it. She needed to be careful and responsible. She was an adult after all.

An instant later, she pulled the lever.

A low rumbling made her release the lever and jump back. A loud cracking sound had her turning toward the island.

A large crack was forming around the little broken half-tower. Melody's mouth dropped open as it rose into the air. She could see the metal ring from the electromagnetic chamber underneath the floating island. A large, thick cable kept it from flying away. The gap between the floating tower and what was left of the island was filled with small bits of floating rock.

As she stood staring with her mouth open, something she had read appeared at the back of her mind:

_I'm not sure what to do about the island. I don't know how to alter the current._

_Perhaps if I bring in some of the unusual floating stone from Amateria? Something about the molecular composition of the rock in that Age causes it to attract and repel other stone quite forcefully. Maybe if I introduce some of it to the soil on the island, it will interfere just enough to damage the last poem_.

Was this what Saveedro had been talking about? Was she seeing the floating rocks from Amateria? That explained it. The rocks were magnetic. Polar magnets. They repelled each other.

A slow grin spread on her face. She couldn't wait to see Amateria.

Since the cable that anchored the island was also the one the air ship was on, Melody had a ride up to the floating island. Thanks to her playing with the electromagnets, the huge door to the half-tower was now receiving power. Using both hands to turn the large handle, Melody cheered when the massive bolts slid away and the door rolled open.

"Take that Saveedro!" she shouted. "Mess with me will ya?! You have no idea who you're dealing with!"

Once she was done with shouting to no one, she went inside. She hadn't been expecting much so she wasn't disappointed when all the half-tower contained was more machinery and magnets. What did interest her was the large hole in the floor with a ladder leading down into daylight. She moved forward cautiously and peeked over the side.

And gasped.

The floating bits of rock made a specific pattern. It was too defined to be a coincidence. She had found it! The second symbol! What a way to hide it! If Saveedro hadn't gone completely insane she would have called him a genius!

She committed it to memory and went back outside the half-tower. The podium with the book was right where she had left it.

Feeling very proud of herself, she linked back to J'nanin.

In what was becoming a routine, Melody drew the symbol on a piece of paper from Saveedro's room, returned to the observatory and placed the symbol in the scanner.

After scanning it, the machine beeped a couple of times and the cage around the book opened. It was still too far away to reach though. She would still need the last symbol.

Melody looked up as a message from Saveedro began to play.

"Is this what you expected Atrus? When you followed me here, hoping to reclaim Releeshan? This classroom what you expected to find? I read your journal, you know. In Tomahna. After I found your linking book abandoned outside this conservatory. I read all about the D'ni. How you started their world again. Can you really do that Atrus? After everything that's happened to Narayan, could you start their world over again?"

Melody gasped. Had that been his plan all along? To hold Releeshan captive to force Atrus to re-write the Narayan world? Didn't he know the Ages didn't work that way? Even if he could re-write Narayan into what it had been before, Atrus couldn't bring back those who had died. He couldn't bring back Saveedro's wife and children.

She tried to focus as Saveedro continued. "I don't think so. I think there's too much blood on our hands. Too many ghosts. Surely you can't change that with a pen stroke. One more symbol Atrus. Narayan is waiting."

The message faded.

Melody shook her head. Saveedro had gravely misunderstood Atrus' journals. Atrus was trying to restore the D'ni, but that had nothing to do with re-writing the D'ni Age. Atrus had written a new Age for the D'ni, completely separate from their old world. Atrus had explained to her that writing a descriptive and linking book to an Age did not create the Age, but established a link to a pre-existing world. With hundreds of millions of stars and countless universes there were endless possibilities for any number of different worlds. That was the mistake Atrus' father Gehn had made, which had led him to having delusions of god-hood.

However, if changes were made to the Age's descriptive book, one could alter certain properties of the Age. But that was dangerous, as it made the Age unstable and prone to collapse as Riven had.

It was an easy misunderstanding to make and it was very fortunate that Saveedro had made it. From the earlier passages in his journal, it was clear that Saveedro's first plan when he had originally come to Tomahna had been to kill everyone. Not only Atrus, but Catherine, Yeesha and Melody herself. But from the message she had just watched, Saveedro had read Atrus' journals and gotten the idea that Atrus could re-write Ages.

That was what these 'lesson' Ages were all about. That was what the murals and messages and journal pages were for. Saveedro was trying to guilt Atrus into re-writing Narayan. And if guilt didn't work, he had a back-up plan in holding Releeshan hostage to force Atrus to do the impossible.

New resolve formed in Melody's heart.

She had to rescue Releeshan before Saveedro realized the truth and decided to go back to his original plan.

* * *

**Okay so this chapter is extremely long. Sorry about that.**

**So we all know what the third Age is and it is another of my favorites. See you there.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Amateria : The Age of Dynamic Forces.**

**Or as I call it : Walt Disney's playground. Come on, this place is AWESOME! So much fun! I can't tell you how many times I saved and replayed the video of the craziest rollercoaster ride ever! :D They need to build a replica of it somewhere.**

* * *

Looking through the blue telescope showed the third tusk across the bridge she had linked to when she'd first entered J'nanin. It seemed like a hundred years ago. Melody hadn't realized how tired she was until that moment. The sun hadn't set yet and she wondered if night time on J'nanin had passed while she had been in one of the other Ages.

Melody yawned. There really wasn't time to sleep, but maybe after she opened the final tusk she'd taken a nap before heading into Amateria.

The symbol on the telescope was a circle. She lined it up with the window on the tusk and used the side door to exit the observatory. Her first clue that opening the tusk was not going to be fun was that the window she had seen from the telescope was actually ground level, which meant that the actual door was underground. A search of the area revealed a hole in the rock leading downward into a grotto. A walkway built above the water lead to the door, but things were never that easy. A large, heavy metal barrel-looking object blocked the way. Melody frowned. Was this Saveedro's doing or had Atrus put it there as an extra challenge for his sons?

After several moments of pushing, shoving, kicking and name-calling, Melody decided to look around for alternate means of moving the stubborn obstacle. Stepping stones lead toward a ledge that had a podium on it. Melody hopped, skipped and jumped her way across. There were two handles on the podium. Since there were obviously connected to the tusk in some way, Melody picked one and pulled it down. The section of the walkway after the barrel went up and the section behind went down. Pushing the handle up caused both pieces to go back to their original state. The other handle controlled the section by the ladder. After some maneuvering, Melody managed to roll the barrel back behind the ladder and out of the way.

Feeling proud of herself, she hopped, skipped and jumped back over and was thrilled to find the door unlocked. Then enthusiasm turned to irritation. The floor of the tusk had been smashed to pieces, leaving a large gaping hole between her and the linking book.

Saveedro. Definitely Saveedro.

Just as she was considering if punching the wall repeatedly and risking a broken hand was worth relieving her anger, she looked back at the barrel and got an idea. She went back to the podium and fiddled with the levers some more. By raising and lowering the handles in reverse, she managed to roll the barrel into the hole. Her idea worked and she was able to step on the barrel to reach the linking book. It was royal blue and had Amateria in gold across the top.

The fly-by was strange to say the least. The place looked like a giant playground with pagodas that reminded her of a Chinese restaurant. She could make out a large track running throughout the large structure that sat in the middle of an ocean.

This was it. The final symbol was somewhere in this Age.

Melody took a deep breath and placed her hand on the page.

The first thing that struck her was how much darker it was in Amateria compared to the other Ages she had been in so far. The sun was setting off in the distance. Or perhaps it was rising, she couldn't really tell. Either way, the darkness made her even more sleepy. Dark clouds were in the distance on the opposite side of the structure and she could see lightning in the clouds. Hopefully it wasn't coming her way.

Now that she was actually in the Age, Amateria reminded her more of an amusement park than a playground. The track that she had seen earlier looked suspiciously like a rollercoaster and the center of the structure looked like a large fun house shaped like a pagoda. She headed there first. Maybe she would find a bed inside.

That plan failed quickly when she realized she couldn't reach the giant pagoda because the track leading up to it had large gaps in three places. Since it didn't look broken but more like something she was going to have to unlock, she assumed that this wasn't Saveedro's doing but something Atrus had installed. The man obviously had had way too much time on his hands.

Yellow fire marbles lit the way as Melody followed the shaky walkway around and into a corridor of rock. A steep, tight winding stairway lead down into a tunnel with blue fire marbles stuck in the walls. Gaps in the walls showed the calm water outside. She walked until the tunnel split two ways. The left tunnel led outside so she decided to go that way first. The wooden walkway was on level with the water. It led to a large mechanism that had been built over pools of nasty looking green water. Melody watched her step carefully. She did not want to fall in.

The walkway ended at a metal platform with a control console on it. The switches on the console wouldn't work until she pulled a lever next to it. The platform rose slightly to give her a better view of the mechanism. Three little switches and a big one made up the console. She pulled the bigger one to start.

Her mouth dropped open as the roof of the funhouse lifted into the air and dropped a crystal ball onto the track right beside the mechanism. At the same time a wooden ball started rolling along a separate smaller track. The crystal ball and the wooden ball reached the mechanism at the same time, the wooden ball dropping into a basket on the lower part and causing the track on the top to rise. But it rose too high, causing the crystal to miss the track and crash into a thousand pieces. The wooden ball was then knocked back to its original place.

She soon discovered the three small switches controlled the fulcrum gear, which controlled how the track was balanced. She tried the track again, but the track still rose too high and the ball smashed again. The weight on the other side had to be off somehow.

Melody lowered the platform and continued to follow the walkway. A door led to a small room on the other side of the mechanism. The weight was inside, but was incomplete. There wasn't enough weight to balance  
the wooden ball. There were chunks of different kinds of material on the bench that lined the wall. Two metal, two wood and two crystal pieces that could be placed on the weight to form a sphere. The bottom of the weight was made of wood, but there were not enough wood pieces to make a complete wooden weight. Evidently she needed a combination of the different materials.

Pieces of crystal littered the floor. Something told her that there had been more pieces but a certain someone had destroyed most of them. Thank you Saveedro, she thought sourly. I hope you choke on a grape.

Just as a test, she piled on the two pieces of crystal, one piece of metal and one piece of wood to complete the counter-weight. But when she went back out and tested it, the weight was too heavy so the track didn't rise enough and the crystal ball still smashed to pieces.

Evidently she was going to have to figure out how the weight of the different materials added together to make the correct amount of weight to perfectly balance the wooden ball.

Or she could go and explore some more. She liked that option better.

Back at the fork in the tunnel she went the other way and found, shocker, an elevator. Atrus seemed to have a thing for elevators and fireplaces. This particular elevator led up to a ledge over the balance mechanism and, another shocker, a journal page:

_My attempts to produce a carnivorous hybrid have had limited success. I thought I was making greater progress, but the life that grows in the forest isn't like the plants on Narayan. It's much more tenacious. Less susceptible to grafts. Perhaps if I try mixing the species from the swamp?_

Hmm, that was interesting. He was obviously talking about Edanna here. Carnivorous hybrid? Did that mean Saveedro was the one who created that giant plant that had tried to eat the mother bird? Why would he do that? Was there a reason or did Saveedro take a break from the revenge business to do some gardening on the side?

Melody continued to followed the winding walkway until she found footholds cut into the rock. Following them upward, she came to another metal platform like the one at the balance mechanism. Only this one was over what looked like a spider web of looping tracks with large rings on them. It was very loud and she realized the sounds were coming from the rings themselves. The noise was resonating in her ear drums and she winced in discomfort. Was the solution to this puzzle to shut off the noise? She hoped so.

She pulled the little lever to release the crystal ball. The roof of the fun house rose and dropped one onto the track. As soon as it reached one of the resonating rings, the pulsating sound shattered the crystal. Since there was nothing else on the console, Melody guessed she was going to have to go down and investigate the rings and fix whatever was wrong with them manually.

Oh joy.

Just as she was about to go back she noticed another journal page stuck by the lever for the platform:

_Focus Saveedro. You must not let the fog come and swallow you. There are long spells I think. Days, maybe months at a time when I can't remember what I've done. The fog rolls so thick around me, even if I hold my hand in front of my eyes I can barely see it. I strain and strain and strain but nothing sticks._

_I think…_

_I think his sons came to visit us twice. On Narayan._

_The first time Atrus asked me to meet them. He told me they would come through the book. He says, they will not understand how your words fit together, but they will use them to open the shield. Narayan, he says, is where their lessons come together. Narayan is the sum of what they must learn. _

_I remember Tamra was carving a spirit mask into the Tree the day the boys arrived. She tugs my sleeve to get my attention. Points at a glide ship in the sky. I am shocked by how young the boys appear. They look so much like their father. Yet they are different somehow too. They're more impatient. And they are angry not to be treated like men. _

_I take them to our home. I tell them I will teach them how to care for it. I say together we will encourage the Lattice Tree to grow tall. They ask me why they have to work so hard. They tell me…_

_No Saveedro! That was later. That was after Atrus took them away. You know this, because when you see them saying these things they are older. Their faces have become angled and hard. They have grown up into men. And something is dark in their eyes. _

_They tell you they've come back to fix Narayan._

It was all starting to make sense now.

Evidently Saveedro's people lived in a giant tree that they had to take care of to survive. A lot of work and a lot of time spent just trying to survive to the next day to do the same thing over again. Definitely not something that fit Sirrus and Achenar's greedy lazy personalities. They had gotten the people of Narayan to trust them by claiming they could 'fix' the Age so the people wouldn't have to work so hard.

But that had been a lie. Number one the Age had been functioning so it hadn't been 'broken' and number 2 even if it had Sirrus and Achenar couldn't have done anything about it. Atrus hadn't taught them the Art. They couldn't write Ages or attempt to repair them, which was impossible.

Back down the footholds and onto the walkway, the next thing Melody saw when she rounded the corner was another painting on the wall. She had come to recognize Saveedro's handy work by now.

This one showed two crowds of angry people, arguing and fighting. A blue robed figure, Saveedro, stood in between the two crowds, trying to calm them. Above him floated two oversized faces, laughing at everything. Sirrus and Achenar no doubt.

It was a painting of the civil war on Narayan that Saveedro had written about. Chronologically this painting went in between the ones in Edanna and Voltaic. Sirrus and Achenar stayed just long enough to cause chaos, steal Narayan's treasures and leave without bothering to clean up the mess they had made.

Saveedro's wife and children were not in this painting. Melody wondered where they had been during the civil war. Hiding maybe? She would have been. No scratch that, actually she would have been taking out Sirrus and Achenar.

Since dwelling on violent thoughts was not going to help her at the moment, she pressed on to the last puzzle in the Age which likely meant another part of the track she had to fix.

Melody yawned. Hopefully she'd find a place to sleep too.

As she was walking around to the next puzzle Melody noticed that all of the tracks led back to the fun house in the middle. That was probably where she had to go after she fixed everything. The more she studied it, the more the place looked and felt like a giant game of Mouse Trap. Once everything was working properly, the crystal sphere would go through each part of the track until the end, wherever that was. Maybe the symbol was on the sphere.

The final piece of the track looked like a jungle gym from a distance, but when she approached it she realized it was another mechanism with six rings arranged in a circle on either side. Some of the rings had bottoms, forming baskets, the others didn't. When she got to the console she realized that the six rings were represented as holes arranged in a circle just like the rings on the mechanism. When she pulled the switch to get a crystal ball, she watched as it rolled down the track, fell into one of the baskets and the rings began to rotate like a turntable. Once the basket with the crystal got to a certain point, the crystal launched into the air. Unfortunately the timing was off and inside of falling into a basket on the other side, the ball fell into the water and sank. Red pegs were in a compartment on the console. By placing the pegs in certain holes, she could change the timing of the mechanism. It looked like more trial and error puzzle solving was called for.

Melody blinked sleepily at the puzzle. She just couldn't do it. Her brain was foggy from lack of sleep. There was no way she was going to be able to figure out any of this. What she needed was a nap.

On a ledge next to the turntables she found yet another journal page:

_The memories flood over me too fast. They race around my head, filling my soul with despair. And the more I think about how nothing can be done, how no one can be alive outside his shield, the faster the fog rushes in. _

_I can lose myself in the fog. When it's thick enough, I can let go and be safe. I can start to forget._

_But I must not forget. I must remember every lie they told my people. How they manipulated us all to get what they wanted! They told me they had come to fix my world. They asked me to arrange a meeting with the Elders. The books they carried with them showed other worlds, beautiful places where people didn't have to work so hard to survive. They told my people that Atrus had written these books. That he had written Narayan, but that he'd made our world unstable. They said he wanted to make us slaves to the Tree. They asked me, don't you remember Saveedro? Our father wrote this world to teach us. To show his sons what an Age shouldn't be._

_I don't know what to say. I don't know how it could be true. But why would they lie? Why would Atrus have lied? The worlds they showed us in those books…_

_The Elders refuse to believe them. They say we cannot abandon the Tree. For thousands of years we have tended the Lattice Roots. Without our traditions, we will die._

_I don't want us to die! I don't! But Sirrus and Achenar said…_

_They said they would come back, Saveedro. Just like Atrus once said to you as well. He said he would come back, but then he didn't. He didn't._

_And for that, you will have to make him pay._

The page shook in her hands as Melody read. Her anger was causing her to shake, crumpling the paper.

How dare they?! How dare those evil jerks say those things about Atrus?! Atrus would never knowingly make people suffer. Never! It wasn't fair. Saveedro had known Atrus. How could he have believed those horrible lies?! If he had truly been Atrus' friend, he wouldn't have believed.

But then again, he didn't know that Sirrus and Achenar had been after Narayan's treasures. In his eyes, they had no reason to lie. And Atrus hadn't returned, which had seemed to give credit to the lie. By that time Atrus had been trapped and was working desperately to save Riven. He had been working so frantically, that he had forgotten about Narayan.

If only Saveedro knew…

When she finally met Saveedro, she would explain everything and hope he would listen to her.

Next to the turntables was a little alcove in the rock wall. Melody curled up as best she could on the small ledge and closed her eyes. Thunder rumbled in the distance, but instead of alarming her it lulled her to sleep. Her last thought was that she hoped she wouldn't have nightmares.

* * *

**So I decided to divide Amateria into two chapters. I probably should have done the same thing with Voltaic but ... *shrugs***

**I will be uploading one more chapter to finish up Amateria, then it will be a day or two before we head to Narayan.**

**Don't forget to review. It warms my heart to see them.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Here is the second half of Amateria. :) For those of you who have read this much of my story : from the bottom of my heart, thank you. It means a lot to me that you have stuck with this story this far.**

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Of course the last thing you think about is usually what you dream about.

She had a nightmare. The world around her was red. It was so unbearably hot and steamy. A giant tree was dying, Trace entangled in the overgrown roots that struggled up from the ground. People were running and screaming. Atrus lay dead on the ground with Catherine beside him, Yeesha crying uncontrollably. Sirrus and Achenar's portraits were hanging from the tree, their faces growing larger as they laughed. Saveedro was tearing the pages from Releeshan. Melody couldn't move. Couldn't speak. She could only stand there and watch helplessly as the world around faded into darkness.

Melody jerked awake and sat bolt upright. For one horrible moment her world was dark and she thought the dream might have been a reality. But then she noticed that she was still in Amateria. The sun had set and the yellow fire marbles didn't give off that much light.

Putting a hand to her head and another to her racing heart, Melody forced herself to take calm even breaths. No more sleeping until this whole mess was over and done with. Atrus, Catherine, Yeesha and Trace were all safe in Tomahna. There was nothing to worry about. Unless Saveedro decided they were taking too long and decided to return to Tomhana.

She scrambled to her feet. There was no telling how long she had been asleep so there was no time to waste. She had to find that symbol and fast. It was time to start fixing things.

She decided to start with the turntables. The crystal ball started on the left and launched to the right, so the way it had to go was left, right, left, out. Since it launched from the left twice, two of the pegs had to go into the left wheel. And since one of the open rings had to be over the exit on the right in order to work, the right turntable had to rotate an even number of times. Using this reasoning and with a good few hours sleep, Melody was able to narrow the possible combinations from 80 down to 24, then when she studied the other wheel she narrowed it down to 12. And since the left turntable had to rotate at least twice, she ended up with four possible combinations, which was a whole lot better than 80. With four she could handle trial and error.

It worked on the third combination. The crystal sphere made it from left to right, left and to the exit with no problems. Once it finished its successful run of that section, the console closed and she heard a loud noise in the distance.

Following the walkway around and up a rope ladder got her back where she started. She saw that by completing a section of the track, a piece of the walkway to the funhouse had slid into place. She needed to complete the other two sections and she could enter the fun house.

The next puzzle she headed to was the Resonance Rings. It wasn't much fun inspecting them because the sound emitted by the rings was so strong that she could see the air vibrant inside the ring. A dial on the side was labeled 1-5 in D'ni numbers. The puzzle was actually quite simple. She started where the crystal ball had been dropped by the fun house roof and followed its path through the rings, setting the dials as she went. Once she set the frequency, the sound wasn't quite as strong and harsh as it had been.

Once she set the last dial, she went to the console that controlled the puzzle and flipped the switch. The ball went through without any problem and that console closed. In the distance she heard another section of track sliding into place.

Finally the third and final section of track and the one she started with, the Balance Bridge. If the one weight was made entirely of wood she would have needed to make the other weight entirely of wood. But thanks to Saveedro she only had two of each type of material so an exact counterweight was out of the question. Something she had seen earlier popped up in her mind:

Two objects of different weight could balance themselves if placed a certain length apart.

She had seen that demonstrated by Saveedro himself in his morbid hang-man toy. Just like one stick figure balanced two, she could make a counterweight that was double the weight of the wooden ball. If she remembered correctly, in Saveedro's study she had seen that crystal weighed 4x as much as wood and metal weighed 4x as much as crystal.

She stood staring at the weight for a long time, trying to do the math in her head. All she managed to do was give herself a big headache. Grabbing a piece of rock, she began to draw on the wall. It still took her around twenty minutes to figure it out. Math had never been her favorite subject. She managed to figure out that she needed one metal piece and two wooden pieces to make the counterbalance. At the console, she moved the fulcrum to the far left and pulled the switch.

She wanted to cheer when the bridge balanced and the crystal ball went through. The console closed and she heard the final piece of track slid into place. Now she could enter the fun house.

The door, surprisingly, opened easily. A suspended stairway led up to a hanging platform. A cushioned chair in the middle of the platform made her frown. She should have solved the puzzles earlier, then she could have napped in style. Once she sat in the chair, it rotated to face a monitor. Another message from Saveedro no doubt.

When Saveedro's face appeared this time, it surprised her. It wasn't angry or vindictive. It looked contemplative and kind of sad.

"This morning I woke up and I couldn't picture Tamra's face. The little line at the corner of her lip that pulls her whole mouth down when she smiles. The flutter in her eyelashes. I tried so hard to picture her in my mind, put her down on paper as if that might bring her back. I couldn't do it. Atrus, I'm not you."

The message faded. Melody was stunned. That was it? No threats, no hostility, no Sirrus and Achenar rants? For some reason, that made the message more powerful than any of the others had been. If Atrus had seen this, there was no doubt in her mind that he would have given his own blood, his own life to bring Tamra back for Saveedro.

She pressed the button and watched the message again, studying Saveedro's eyes. There was no malice in them, no anger. Just the pain of great loss. Perhaps his revenge hadn't consumed him completely.

'I'm not like you'… what did he mean by that? Did he think that Atrus did have the power to bring back the dead by writing, or did he mean he wasn't as good with words as Atrus, or was he referring to the fact that he didn't have the power to write Ages?

Whatever the meaning behind them, those words struck a cord deep within her and made pity rise in her heart for Saveedro, for Tamra and for those two frightened little girls that had watched their father leave as their world died.

Melody spotted a handle above her head and pulled it. The platform rose and she found herself in the part of the roof that the crystal balls came from. The platform locked into place and the roof rose into the air, hovering above the fun house. A console opened to reveal different sections of the track all mapped out. The pieces of the track were fixed, but they were not connected. It was obvious what she had to do.

By rotating the dials, she went along the track from beginning to end making sure it was all connected in to one big continuous course. Satisfied with her work, she looked for a button to release a crystal ball. Once it ran the track, she would go to wherever it stopped and look for the symbol. She found a blue button and pressed it.

She gasped as the platform she was sitting on fell away, leaving only the chair hovering in place. A mechanical arm descended from the top of the roof, swinging around her to form a crystal ball with her in the center.

Panic crept up her spine. This was a giant rollercoaster and she was about to ride it!

All Melody could do was hold on and scream as the crystal ball dropped onto the track and took off. She hoped and prayed her repairs to the track held. She really didn't want to sink to the bottom of the ocean. Who knew how deep it was or what kind of animals lived down there?

Every time the ball reached a puzzle she held her breath and braced herself. But she made it through each one without a problem. Once she got over her mortal terror, the ride was actually pretty fun. Atrus could have made a living on Earth as a ride designer and engineer. Disney would have killed to hire him.

The ride finally ended on a platform a little ways from where she had started. But from this angle, she could see the massive symbol that was painted on the rock walls. A high frequency sound shattered the crystal ball so she could get up. She committed the symbol to memory and searched for the linking book to J'nanin. She found it on a podium a few feet away from here the ball had been.

Melody looked up at the fun house and grinned. She wanted to do it again.

A strange mixture of fear and excitement made her movements slow as Melody approached the machine. She placed the piece of paper with the Amateria symbol on the panel, then stepped back as a platform stretched out to the cage. She could now reach the linking book.

Melody looked up as the final message from Saveedro began.

To her shock, she saw Atrus's face appear. The young face from the first message.

"You've done well my sons. But there is still one task ahead of you. The linking book you see here connects to an Age called Narayan. It's a very delicate Age, a civilization has emerged in response to those balances. It's also the first inhabited Age I'm sending you to alone. But don't be afraid. The knowledge you have acquired here will show you the way in. Use it, and see all that Narayan has to offer."

The message faded with no sign of Saveedro. He had left this message intact. One last hammering of guilt for Atrus no doubt, as his sons did not take this message in the way their father intended. They had seen all that Narayan had to offer all right. Then they had taken it.

Melody's eyes went to the book. It was purple in color, with ornate gold leafing and lettering.

This was it.

She was going to see it.

Narayan.

Slowly, almost fearfully, she placed her hand on the page.

* * *

**I know, I know, this chapter is super short. Think of it as me making up for that monster Voltaic chapter.**

**Next time we will be entering Narayan and finally confronting Saveedro. What do you think will happen?**


	25. Chapter 25

**Here it is! Showdown in Narayan! *dun Dun DUN!***

**Thanks to Winona for the reviews. I appreciate me more then I could ever express.**

* * *

Grey. That was the first thing that came to her mind.

She had arrived in a small chamber. The walls were a greyish green. Grey roots and dead vines wound around machinery. Narayan was a blend of nature and mechanics. The only color she could see was the brilliant red of the tapestries that hung from the wall. Gold symbols were stitched on them, translations of Narayan symbols into D'ni text. From the archways, she could see that the dead tree she was in was sealed off from the rest of the Age by a large, thick, icy shield. The shield that Saveedro had spoken of.

It was so quiet. A pin drop would sound like a gun shot. Where was Saveedro?

A metal stairway led up and out to the top of the tree. Through a gate of tangled hardened roots, she could see a gondola like the ones in Saveedro's paintings, evidently the means of transportation in Narayan. There was another opening to get to the gondola, but it seemed there was an inner shield that blocked the gondola area as well as a larger outer shield that blocked the rest of the Age. Several consoles were locked, not receiving any power.

The top of the tree consisted of a metal platform built over greenish grey spores. A small metal shack was built off to one side. She had standing in the middle of the platform, trying to get her bearings when the door of the shack opened.

Melody jumped and braced herself.

Saveedro himself stepped out holding Releeshan in one hand, a rock hammer in the other and had an expectant smile on his face.

Until he saw her.

Then his smile faded to shock.

"You… What are you doing here? You're not the one. Where is he?"

"Saveedro," Melody said, holding up her hands to protect herself if necessary. "You don't have to…"

"I know he's here!" Saveedro insisted. "I have his book!"

"Saveedro, listen," she said calmly. "There are a lot of things you have to know…"

"He's not here," he said, not acknowledging that she had spoken. "I take Releeshan from him and he sends you instead."

"He didn't send me at all," she informed him. "I followed you."

"Idiot," he muttered and turned away from her.

"Hey who are you calling names nut case?"

"You actually believed this would work?"

"I had to act on the spur of the moment," she said defensively. "Don't judge me! It's all your fault anyway!"

"You thought you could force him into coming here? Fixing things? Why?" It was then that Melody realized Saveedro was not talking to her. He was talking to himself. "Why would he re-write Narayan?! Because of your messages, because of your paintings?! Look at your world! Look at what's left of it!"

"Okay," she said out loud, backing away. "Obviously you are still having issues. Let's just calm down and talk things over."

"When are you going to get it through your head that you do not matter it him?!"

"Okay," she backed away even more. "No talking."

He suddenly seemed to remember she was there. He stopped and looked up at her.

Oh crap, she thought as he came toward her. She braced herself to run, but he stopped few feet away and leaned over her. "You're stuck here you know. The linking book back to J'nanin is gone. Left behind when I linked out of Atrus' study. And as for getting into Narayan, look around you. The chamber below us is the only way in. Atrus installed some kind of shield and I have never been able to get passed it. Not once in all these years. So you're just as stuck here as I am. At least until I open this book."

Melody's eyes went to Releeshan, then back to him. "Saveedro, you don't have to do this. Give me Releeshan. Please."

"No," he said, backing away. "I'm going to open this book. And then I'll show Atrus what it's like to watch your friends and relatives die."

"Saveedro no," Melody said firmly, stepping forward. "I won't let you."

He raised the hammer and she stopped in her tracks. "Don't push me girl. I literally have nothing to lose." He turned and headed back for the shack, then stopped and looked back at her. "If you do find a way out of here, I suggest you think very carefully about using it. Because one thing I know about linking books : the doors they open… don't close behind you…"

He entered the shack and shut the door.

Melody raced toward it and jerked on the handle, but it was locked. "Saveedro! Saveedro unlock this door!" She banged on the metal, hurting her hand. "Did it ever occur to you that Atrus didn't come because you set his home on fire?!"

There was no answer. She indulged in a healthy bit of name-calling and making faces, then turned away in frustration. What was she supposed to do now? She had limited time before Saveedro broke the lock on Releeshan and took his revenge on the people she had come to love just as much as Atrus. All she could do was explore and try to find some way to convince Saveedro to listen to her.

She found a switch, but it didn't really do anything. She followed the pipe down the stairs and back to the room she linked into. The consoles still weren't getting any power, but now she noticed a router switch between them. When she opened one of the consoles, she saw there was a place to enter four symbols. She only had three from the lessons Ages, so maybe she needed to find the fourth for Narayan.

The other console really confused her. It had three places to enter four symbols for a total of twelve symbols for one console. Was this where she entered the symbols of the three lesson Ages? According to the tapestries, the symbols she had drawn on the papers were a combination of two Narayan symbols for each Age. She needed more than that. It was like she only had half of a message.

On a podium next to the tapestries she found a small book in D'ni writing. Evidently Saveedro couldn't read D'ni. Fortunately Atrus had taught her enough for her to make out what the few papers said:

_Energy Powers Future Motion _was followed by a drawing of the symbol that had been on the window of the tusk that held the linking book to Voltaic.

_Nature Encourages Mutual Dependence _was followed by a drawing of the symbol on the Edanna book.

_Dynamic Forces Spur Change _had the symbol for Amateria next to it.

Using the tapestries to convert the words into Narayan symbols, she was able to come up with the four symbols for each lesson Age. Once she entered them into the console, it shut and went down into the floor. The inner shield that had been blocking the way to the gondola disappeared. She went out to the dock by the gondola. The outer shield was still up, so there was no way to use the gondola to go anywhere.

Another metal staircase led downward into another room. The only thing in that room was a podium with a linking book. Melody rushed forward and grabbed it, her hands shaking. This was it! The linking book back to Tomahna. She opened the book and felt a wave of longing as she watched the fly-by of the orange red canyons and the blue sky of her home. She could go home…

She paused, her hand hovering over the panel. Saveedro's threat replayed in her mind: the doors they open don't close behind you. If she used the linking book to go home, Saveedro would follow her and kill everyone. She couldn't put them in danger.

It was difficult, but she closed the book and put it back on the podium. She couldn't go home. Not yet. Not until she had saved Releeshan and dealt with Saveedro.

Another thing of interest was another tapestry, but this one was a phrase in D'ni:

_Balanced Systems Stimulate Civilizations_

That had to be the code for Narayan! She ran back upstairs and headed for the tapestries. After translating the words into symbols, she entered them into the console for Narayan.

She was rewarded by the inner shield closing so the outer shield could open. Melody gasped. The reddish-pink glow of the sky over the white fluffy clouds was breathtaking. But the more shocking thing was the large tree in the distance. It didn't look dead. It looked… alive! There were people still alive out there!

She heard footsteps on the stairs and turned to face Saveedro with a smile. "Look!" she exclaimed, pointing toward the tree.

He looked shell-shocked. "They're… alive!" He smiled brightly as he came toward her. "How did you…?" he looked beyond her at the console. "The symbols… of course…"

"I am so happy for you Saveedro," she said sincerely, "I truly am. There is no reason for you to harm Releeshan or anyone on it now. Please, give me the book and go to your family. I'm sure they are waiting for you."

He looked at her oddly, like he couldn't understand how she knew so much about him. He looked down at the book and narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. He didn't trust her. That was understandable. Look where he had gotten after the last people he had trusted. Melody just smiled encouragingly and waited.

Keeping a firm grip on the book, he flipped the router switch so the inner shield would go down in order for him to reach the gondola. The inner shield went down, but with the power redirected to deactivate the inner shield the outer shield reactivated.

"He gives me hope only to destroy me with it," Saveedro said to himself, then looked up at her. "I still have something you want. Something that he sent you to bring back for him."

He didn't send me, she wanted to say but kept her mouth shut. Back talking wasn't going to get her anywhere. Well, anywhere good.

"When I go out by the gondola," he continued. "Switch the router so the outer shield is down. And in return, I'll give up Releeshan."

Like I'm going to believe you, she thought. "Give me Releeshan and I'll drop the barrier," she countered.

"You are in no position to make demands," he snarled, once again lifting the hammer. "Do as I say or I swear I'll destroy Releeshan and then I'll come after you before returning to Tomahna and finishing what I started. Drop the shield. Do it!"

He stomped through the doorway and stood by the gondola.

Melody blew out her breath in frustration. He was right. She couldn't make demands while he had the upper hand. While he still had Releeshan. She had to get it away from him somehow. There was no way she could trust him to keep up his end of the bargain. He hated Atrus so much that even if he could return to his people he would destroy Releeshan in the name of revenge.

She looked toward the stairs that led to the roof. Maybe it was time for her to have the upper hand…

She climbed the stairs and found the power lever she had turned earlier. Now that the shields were operational, then the power lever should control the power levels of both now. She felt a twinge of guilt for what she was about to do, but then she remembered all of the threats and she felt better.

She could see Saveedro pacing by the gondola below. Taking a firm grip on the lever, she turned it.

Both shields powered up, trapping Saveedro in between. Saveedro stood shocked, looked around, then up at her. She stared back with no expression on her face.

He covered his face with his hand. "Oh no…" she heard him mutter. "Idiot… No… No! No! No, no, no, no!" He fell to his knees and placed his forehead on the ground, rocking back and forth.

It pained her to put a man in such a position. She wished there had been another way. Now it was time to see if he was ready to talk.

Saveedro couldn't believe he had been so stupid. He had been so close… so close to returning to his family. Then one mistake had cost him his hope again. He should have known not to turn his back on the girl. She was a friend of Atrus. She was a friend of his family. She was no different than they had been. And now she had betrayed him as well.

He heard footsteps and looked up. It was her. The girl. She stood at the gate, her green eyes watching him warily.

"Oh no…," he told her, getting to his feet. "Please, don't do this to me. Not when my family could still be alive out there."

"I'm sorry it had to come to this Saveedro," she said. "But you really gave me no choice. Now you really have to listen…"

"You want the book?" he asked. "I'll give you the book," he slipped it between the hardened roots. "Only please…" he begged, getting on his knees. "Please… don't do this." Holding the book, she looked at him uncertainly. He got up and backed away. "Please… I can't do this again" He had to make her understand. He couldn't lose his family again. "Don't leave me trapped here like this! I can't!"

It was useless. She just stared at him. She wouldn't help him. How could he expect her to do anything for him? Especially now that she had what she wanted… "NO! No! No, no, no, no!"

He crumpled to the ground again. It was over… his life… his future… it was all over… all of his plans… twenty years wasted...

He was still going to die alone.

Only this time, there was no fog to swallow his mind. Nothing to make him forget his agony.

* * *

**Poor Saveedro. Feeling sorry for him yet? If you don't you have no heart.**

**What will Melody do?**


	26. Chapter 26

Melody turned away from the gate, hugging Releeshan to her. It was safe. She had finally gotten it back. She moved toward the stairs that led down to the Tomahna linking book.

Saveedro's heart-wrenching cries echoed, each one like a knife wound in her heart. He had brought this on himself. He would have done the same thing to her. He had almost killed everybody. He had almost killed her. Saveedro was no different than Gehn had been, full of anger and hatred and revenge. A man like that didn't deserve pity.

Then why wouldn't her feet move? Why was she stopping? Why didn't she just walk away?

If she lowered the inner shield, she had no doubt he would kill her.

All he wanted was his family back… his world that was taken from him… his wife and daughters.

She covered her face with her hand as Saveedro's cries turned into racking sobs. She couldn't do it. She couldn't just leave him like this. She wouldn't be able to live with herself.

There had to be a way…

And suddenly, she saw that there was.

With the power still off, she switched the router to the other side, so it would only power the inner shield. Then, heading back upstairs, she gripped the power switch.

"Goodbye Saveedro," she murmured and turned the switch.

The outer shield fell.

Saveedro gasped and stood, staring dazedly at the open world around him. He looked up at her in wonder. She smiled and held up her hand.

He nodded, tears in his eyes. He placed a hand over his heart and held the other one up to her. She guessed that was a Narayan farewell. She watched through tear-filled eyes as he climbed into the gondola and sailed along the cable toward the tree in the distance.

Catherine stood and stretched. It had been two days since the fire and Melody's disappearance. Two whole days of worry.

They had seen Trace only rarely when he stopped in between his search of the Ages. He was never going to give up until he found her. Was she alright? Or had the horrid man that Atrus had described harmed her? Why hadn't either of them returned?

Atrus stepped over the charred remains of his desk. "It's going to be quite a task cleaning this mess up."

"What else can we do with the time we have to wait?" Catherine asked. "I pray she is safe."

"As I said before my love, Melody is a very resourceful young woman…"

"But against such a man? How can she possible hope to defend herself from someone so strong and wild? He could hurt her Atrus. Maybe he already has…"

Atrus held his wife as she started to cry.

They heard footsteps. Trace came into the room. "No sign," he said before they could ask.

"Trace, you must rest," Catherine told him. "How many Ages have you searched by now?"

"Not enough considering I haven't found her yet," he answered and swayed where he stood.

Atrus moved to help him. "I was afraid of this. Too much linking in a short period of time can cause an illness similar to motion sickness."

"You could have mentioned that before."

"I forgot," Atrus said sheepishly.

They heard Yeesha crying. Catherine moved toward the door. "I'll go this time."

As she opened the door, she gasped in shock.

A figure stood on the landing. A girl with red hair that was dirty and tangled, a smudge of dirt on her cheek and forehead. Her clothes were messy and torn in several places. Dried blood formed a scab on her knee. She was breathing heavily, her eyes look tired. Her cheeks glistened with tears.

"Melody!" Catherine cried and hugged her close. "The fire burned the linking book you used. We had no way of following you."

Atrus and Trace were beside her instantly.

"You have returned!" Atrus exclaimed.

"Are you alright?" Trace asked.

"I'm okay now that I'm here," Melody answered, pulling back and holding up a book. "Atrus! I got it! I got Releeshan back!" She handed him the book excitedly.

"Where have you been Melody?" Catherine asked concerned. "You look exhausted and filthy. Are you hungry?"

"Later Catherine. Is everyone alright?"

Atrus had taken a key from his pocket to open the book. He smiled in relief. "Thank goodness. It's undamaged. Everyone should be fine."

"Are you hurt?" Trace asked.

"That doesn't matter," she answered. "You will not believe what happened to me…"

She was cut off when strong hands gripped her shoulders and spun her around. Trace was glaring down at her. "Are you alright?!" he demanded.

Melody blinked, looking at him blankly. "I'm fine… Trace, really I'm alright."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Melody looked at Atrus and Catherine, hoping they would explain what was up with Trace. Catherine only smiled and Atrus looked just as confused as she was.

When Trace finally looked at her again, she squeaked inwardly at how serious he looked. "Don't… ever… do that… again."

"Is that what this is about? That I went after Saveedro without you?"

"Saveedro?!" Atrus exclaimed but Catherine shushed him.

"This is about you being unbelievably stupid! I had no idea where you were or how to find you! You could have been attacked by that man! You could have gotten trapped in an Age where I couldn't find you! You could have been…"

"But I wasn't!" Melody insisted. "I'm sorry, but there wasn't any time to think. I just had to act. If I hadn't, Releeshan would have been lost forever."

"At the cost of your life?"

"One life for many more sounds about even to me. The D'ni need Atrus. Atrus and Yeesha need Catherine. The people of Tay need you. I'm expendable. It had to be me."

He looked, if it was possible, even angrier than before. "You are not expendable to me," he said in a dangerous voice.

It was then she really looked at him and saw that behind the anger in his eyes, there was concern and… was that fear? Had he been afraid that he had lost her? That was so… sweet. It touched her and she couldn't help but smile.

"What's so funny?" he asked sharply.

"Nothing. I'm just glad that you missed me."

He snorted and stepped back. "If anything had happened to you, Catherine would have nagged me about it."

Catherine raised an eyebrow. "Well now that that is settled, you must tell us everything."

"I watched him sail away on the gondola and then I linked back here."

It was hours later, after Catherine had fed them, that Melody finally finished the whole story.

Atrus looked troubled. "I deeply regret the hardship my old friend suffered because of my sons. But I can rejoice, for not only has Releeshan returned to me unharmed but you my dear friend have returned as well. I rejoice also that Narayan is safe. The secrets of its past have been unlocked and old wrongs have finally been righted. I know now that we can't escape the past, nor can we re-write it hoping to lessen our pain. The best we can hope for is to continue to learn, and take from the past only that which is good, and move on. Perhaps in the process, we will build a brighter future."

* * *

**Yays! The end of Exile! What do you think of Melody's choice? I never could bring myself to leave Saveedro there, even though he killed me multiple times until I figured out what I had to do to save him. -_- **

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and stuck with me this far. See ya'll in Revelations! 3**


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